Conversation with a Goldsmith
by Signal27
Summary: Arthur has commissioned rings for his new knights that helped him take back Camelot from Morgause, Morgana, and the immortal army. Along with the rings, he learns a history that his father never told him...about a dragonlord that helped put his father on the throne. Balinor. Post season 3. Arthur figures a few thing out, but keeps it secret.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note. This story was supposed to be the first chapter of a rather long Merlin/HP crossover. It was intended to give a little bit of background info. Weeeeeeell, my muse sort of got a bit carried away. I'm already approaching 7K words and I am only 1/2 to 2/3 finished. So I decided to do it as a stand-alone. Perhaps when I finally get around to doing the other story, I'll refer back to this one.**

 **Please note: Merlin is more of a background character in this story (at least at this point). The story mostly focuses on a conversation between Arthur and an old goldsmith who tells him a story about Balinor.**

 **Enjoy, and I welcome reviews, even if they are critical.**

The goldsmith looked down at his hands, long aged by time and years spent working with molten metal. He marveled that they didn't shake. He had been summoned back to Camelot under the behest of Prince Arthur. The young prince had commissioned four campaign rings for newly appointed knights. Knights, who were born of common blood, but who had, together with the Prince, his manservant, and court physician, retaken Camelot from the witches Morgause and Morgana and their immortal army. The tale had spread quickly through all the Kingdoms. Prince Arthur is a formidable warrior, and would one day be a formidable king.

He was interrupted from his musings by the opening of the door. A lanky young man with obsidian black hair entered the room. "Master Horatius?" the young man inquired. At the goldsmith's nod, the young man continued. "Prince Arthur has been detained and asks your forgiveness. He said to have a seat and he will be with you shortly". At the Goldsmith's shocked expression, the young man smiled. "Arth..Prince Arthur knows that you are weary from your travel, and does not wish to overtax you. Would you like some refreshment?" the young man asked as he crossed the room indicating a chair then continuing on to where a tray sat with several pitchers of various drink.

The old man sat down, still somewhat bewildered by the treatment. It is expected for one who has an audience with royalty to remain standing, even outside the royal's presence. An excuse and apology was not heard of. He looked at the young man. "Merlin…your name is Merlin, isn't it?"

Now it was the young man that looks rather surprised. "Yes, My Lord."

At the startled expression on the boy's face, the old goldsmith laughed. "Don't look so surprised young man, news travels far of the courageous prince and his plucky manservant…who stays by his prince in battle, even though he has no fighting skills himself?..." Horatius trailed off, looking at Merlin with a raised eyebrow. Merlin's face flushed brightly as he stammered for words. Horatius laughed again. "No need to get flustered my boy" he said, and to relieve the young man's embarrassment, asked "what sort of refreshment do you have?"

Merlin perked up and indicated each pitcher as he answered "we have cooled water, watered wine, and this," indicating the last pitcher, "is a berried juice drink that the cook has prepared. It has no wine, but is sweet and refreshing. It is quite good" he ended with a flourish, then added "If you wish, I could go down and get some mulled wine."

Horatius smiled, "You seem to recommend the berried juice, so that is what I think I will have."

Merlin smiled broadly "I think you'll not be disappointed".

It was at that smile that Horatius knew, without a shadow of a doubt, who Merlin's father was. There was no denying that this young man standing before him was the son of Balinor.

As Merlin poured the drink, Horatius fingered a ring in the pocket of his robes. Yes, this ring, after so many years, would go to the son of the man for whom it was made. He smiled as Merlin handed him his drink. After taking a sip, he had to agree that it was quite good.

Merlin made his leave, saying again that Arthur would be with him shortly. The old man went back to his musings. He wondered if the king or prince knew of the boy's heritage. No, he thought bitterly, there is no way Uther knew. He wasn't so sure about the prince though. He had heard a good bit of whispering about what happened, how the immortal army just vanished into thin air. He also knew that the boy was more than likely responsible for that feat, even if he acted as if he did nothing. No, the prince probably had no idea of the protector and ally that he had in the form of an unassuming manservant.

His thoughts were once again interrupted as the door opened and the prince entered. Horatius set his drink down and stood as quickly as his aching joints would allow. He bowed to the young prince. "Lord Horatius" Arthur said has he grasped the older man's arm "I am sorry you had to wait. It has been rather busy around here, and I am still getting used to the added duties with…um…" the prince trailed off, the burden of leadership during his father's illness showing plainly on his face.

"That is quite alright Your Highness. I understand completely." Arthur motioned for him to sit and took a seat opposite. Horatius pulled a box out of his robes and handed it to Arthur.

The young man raised his eyebrows in question "They are finished already?"

"Yes, Your Highness, I was under the impression that you wanted it done quickly" the goldsmith replied.

Arthur opened the box to find six almost identical rings. A modified Pendragon crest sat at the head of each ring. The sides were thick and each had exquisite detailing. The prince looked up confused. "I only commissioned four rings…"

The old man smiled and answered him. "After hearing your story, and the story from other sources, I thought you might like to award Sir Leon with a ring as well. I realize that he was knighted by your father, and is, in essence, his knight…but I think that you will find is full loyalty is to you. The other ring, My Lord, is for you."

He motioned for Arthur to give him back the box. Horatius pulled out the first ring. "This, sire, is for you. You will notice that the head of the ring is a bit more pronounced and the outer roping higher than the others." On the side here" he pointed to the wide band "is your father's family crest, and on this side," he said flipping it to the other side "is your mother's crest". The goldsmith then showed the prince each of the other rings going over the symbol details and which ring was for whom. Leon's being the only one, other than the prince, to display a family crest.

Arthur sat back amazed at the fine craftsmanship and exquisite detailing of each ring. He knew that his father had always commissioned Horatius for royal jewelry, but never really understood. Until now. He looked at Horatius in awe before regaining his regal bearing. "I am sure my father would say 'these are acceptable'" Arthur said with false detached aloofness, then smiled broadly "However, I will say that these are truly astounding. I will have the treasurer pay you the remainder of your fee, and, of course, for the other two rings".

The old man shook his head. "No Sire, the rings are paid in full. The amount you gave me originally paid for the gold to work with…the workmanship, is my gift to you." The man held his hand up as Arthur started to protest. "Besides," he continued, smiling "I have several other items to show you." He placed his hand in his robes and pulled out a smaller box and was opening it when there was a knock at the door. Before Arthur could respond, the door opened and Merlin stuck his head inside.

"Um, I'm sorry for interrupting….."

Arthur rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation "What is it _Mer_ lin?"

The raven haired main furrowed his brow and started "Lord Risling…." He stopped and scrunched his face as if trying to think of a diplomatic way phrasing the rest of the sentence. "….is most insistent about the meeting the two of you are supposed to be having." He finished off with an exaggerated closed lip smile.

It was apparent that Lord Risling was giving Merlin a hard time. Arthur knew that the obstinate lord had no qualms about becoming loud and disruptive, even physically abusive to servants when unhappy. Arthur sighed and looked at Horatius. "Will you stay the evening? I can have Merlin prepare you a room."

"Oh that won't be necessary, I can stay at the inn" the old man replied.

"I insist. My father would have me flogged for allowing an old friend to stay in such accommodations." The old lord relented. Arthur stood up and smiled. "Good! Merlin, see to it that rooms are prepared for Horatius, and have the kitchen prepare him a light meal." He turned to the old man, "I do hope you will take dinner with me this evening".

The goldsmith bowed "It would be an honor, Sire." With that, Arthur left the room.

Horatius was resting in his room after a small meal, considering the prince. He was quite different from the young prince he used to be. Long gone was the arrogant spoiled teen that he remembered. At the time, he quite feared what type of king the young prince would make. But the man he appeared to be now seemed to truly care about his subjects. He had heard stories of how he had gone to a small village – in another kingdom no less – to fight off bandits who were trying to take the last of the food and grain. How the boy argued with his father to get food to those in the lower town and across the kingdom during a famine. That, of course, was not publicly known. He did, after all, still have several "inside" sources. He had heard many other stories as well. Yes, this young man was becoming quite the "people's prince".

A soft knock came at the door and he bade entry. Merlin entered and smiled at the elder man. "Prince Arthur asked me to take you to the small dining hall in half an hour. Do you, um, need me to help you with anything?" He asked hesitantly.

Horatius let out a gruff laugh "No, my boy….I have been dressing myself for quite some time now"

Merlin smiled in spite of himself. "I did not mean to imply that you could not." Then added "I will be back shortly then to take you" then let himself out of the room.

As Merlin walked Horatius to the dining hall they made polite talk. Merlin asked if he should address him as 'Master' or 'Lord'. "Well, actually I am both. Master by trade, Lord by birth. But really, just call me Horatius. I am getting too old for all this title rubbish." Merlin laughed as they entered the dining hall. It was one of the smaller dining halls, intimately set for just a few people.

Soon after, the prince and Lady Guinevere entered. There was still an empty place setting. Arthur looked to Merlin, "Gaius?"

"I'm sorry, sire." His manservant replied "…Lady Blasine has gone into labor. Gaius sends his regrets" Merlin then turns to Horatius "But…he does wish to visit with you before you leave."

The old man smiled, "That will be just fine. I would like to catch up with him, I have missed him the last few times I was through."

Arthur interjected himself "Did you know Gaius well…I mean, when you lived here before?"

The man laughed, "Oh quite well, Guy and I more or less grew up together!"

Arthur exchanged amused glances with Merlin. 'Guy?' Both smirked at the nickname. Arthur then returned his glance to his guest. "Was Gaius always so…um….serious?"

"Arthur!" Gwen admonished.

"What?" he asked with false innocence. Gwen just huffed.

The old man's eyes twinkled "Oh, hardly. Let's just say that he had a penchant for pranks and getting us into an inordinate amount of trouble."

Arthur noticed Merlin's wide glee-filled eyes and had to cover his laugh with a cough. Although, he had to agree. The thought of Gaius as being anything but serious was laughable.

"However," Horatius continued "I don't think it would be right to reminisce about old stories without the man being here to enjoy them…or, if I know Guy, to try to shut me up" The older man took a bite of the pork roast and smiled. "Perhaps you could ask him if it is a good idea to dress up a boar in noble finery and let it loose at the Beltane feast…."

After dinner, Gwen excused herself as she knew the men had business to discuss. Arthur sent Merlin to the royal cellar to get some their finest wine and told him to bring it to the Prince's antechamber. Arthur then guided Horatius to the room and to one of the cushioned chairs. He sat in another with a small side table between them. The old man began. "Arthur, before we get back to business, I have to ask you….How _is_ Uthur, truly?"

Arthur could easily see the concern in the man's eyes. He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face "He is quite ill, and it is very hard on all of us."

The old goldsmith placed his aged hand on the arm of the young prince. "I know it is, son." He paused for a moment then asked "Perhaps, do you think it might be possible for me to see him before I leave….that is, if he is having a good day?"

"I don't know, Horatius, he rarely recognizes anyone anymore." Sighed the prince.

Horatius responded with a sad smile, "Be that as it may, perhaps seeing a friend from a less burdened time of his life might help. Talk to Gaius. If, between the two of you, you feel it is okay to for me to see him, I would love to."

Arthur looked at him "I will".

A knock at the door and Merlin entering with a tray with wine and goblets brought an end to their somber discussion. After Merlin filled the goblets he stood back prepared to wait on them as needed. A look from Horatius let Arthur know that he wished to continue their conversation in private. The prince was a bit confused as Merlin knew of the rings, but assented. "Merlin, you are relieved for the evening, just leave the pitcher on the table. Go prepare my chambers for bed, then you are free to go." Merlin shot Arthur a confused look. Arthur just tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders ever so slightly to let his manservant know that he didn't know either but that the elderly man wished a private conversation.

The Goldsmith pulled back out the box with the rings, they discussed again which ring went to who. About 10 minutes later, they heard the sound of a door clicking shut from the other room indicating that Merlin had left for the evening. Horatius pulled out a second box. This box held two brooches. "These are for Gaius and the Lady Guinevere" He pulled out the one for Gaius "This can be worn as a pendant or cloak brooch. The design is of Greek origin, it is the Rod of Asclepius. It is associated with healing and medicine." He placed it back in the box then gently removed a round gold brooch that was solid throughout with several inlaid designs. A lily for humility and devotion, a sword for war, a rose for love, and a flame for wisdom. Under the designs, covering the whole brooch was an intricately carved symbol of the tree of life. He meticulously went over each part and what it meant. He added at the end with a wink "If she is to become your queen, I would be honored to style her a tiara for less official feasts and balls. I know how heavy your mother's crown was."

Arthur looked at him completely overwhelmed "Um, I'd be honored when that day comes." The prince paused for a moment to gather his thoughts "but all this…" gesturing to the rings and brooches "it was totally unexpected…."

The old goldsmith held his hand up to quieten the prince. "Arthur, what the small group of you did – going up against two powerful witches and an immortal army – _AND_ being victorious… is a feat worthy of songs by bards and will become legend in time. Each of you deserve something so that you will always remember this victory…No, I'm serious. It is with these men, each of them, that you will carve out your future." The old man chuckled "well the men and the lovely Lady Guinevere". He reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small cloth and unfolded it to reveal a ring. "Which brings us to the last person…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: Chapter 2 goes up now. Chapter 3 goes up tomorrow. After that updates will be slower. Probably once every 2-3 days or once a week. (still writing that portion, sorry)  
Thanks for all the faves and follows. For those that have reviewed, thank you very much.**

 **Oh, the disclaimer...I don't own BBC's Merlin or their depiction of the characters. Nor do I own their storyline.**

Horatius swallowed hard and went to grab his cup of wine, which was empty. Arthur rose and got the pitcher of wine and refilled his cup. Horatius smiled up in thanks then handed the ring to the prince. Arthur looked down at the exquisite piece of jewelry as the old man took a sip of his wine before he began "This ring has a story. Unlike these other pieces, this ring is considerably older. Your father commissioned me to make it for someone over 25 years ago. The man for whom it was made, never received it." He paused for a moment then continued. "Your servant, Merlin, reminds me a lot of that man….or at least that man when he was younger."

"Did he die?" Arthur inquired.

"No, he didn't die, but he had to leave quite quickly" Horatius said sadly.

Arthur looked down at the ring. The top held an interesting stone. It was flat, with a high polish, almost mirror-like. When he looked at it straight on, it appeared a milky white, but with the slightest tilt, it appeared black as onyx. More remarkable than the stone was the ring itself. The sides were sculptured with a dragon – not the Pendragon emblem – but what looked like an actual dragon. He turned it upside down and followed the pattern of the band up the other side where it attached to the other side of the stone. That side resembled the dragon's tale. In all, it looked like a dragon encircling the finger. The prongs to the stone resembled a dragon's claw. Arthur looked up at the man who was studying him closely.

Horatius cleared his throat again and continued. "The last few times I was here visiting your father, I happened to notice you and your manservant walking around. He's a bit clumsy and really does have a ridiculous smile doesn't he?"

Arthur laughed "He's a complete idiot most of the time".

The old man laughed heartily. "When he was a teen, Balinor was much the same way."

Arthur looked up in shock. "Balinor? The dragonlord?"

"One in the same, you have heard of him I take it?" the old man asked.

Arthur sighed "Yes. We met him a couple of years back. We searched for him when the Great Dragon escaped and started attacking Camelot. Unfortunately, he died before we could bring him back to face the dragon."

Horatius sighed "I had heard as much, I had hoped it were only rumor. Tell me, how did he die?"

"We were on our way back to Camelot and were ambushed by Cedred's men. He died saving Merlin's life, he took a sword wound defending him.

Horatius huffed out an unamused half laugh "Fate can be cruel, can't she?" He placed his elbow on the arm of the chair and rubbed his head with his hand, shading his eyes. Arthur could tell he was affected by the news and started to offer condolences. But the old man sat up straight, sniffing once. "He died an honorable death. If one must go before their time, then it is good that they die for something important."

"That is true, he did die nobly and with honor" Arthur replied. He could see the Nobleman and the warrior in the aged man before him. He could tell that this man had seen battle and had lost comrades in arms. Horatius was silent again, lost in thought. Arthur placed his hand on the man's arm to comfort him. "I am sorry for your loss, he apparently meant a lot to you….if you wish, we can continue later"

The old man cleared his throat and took another sip – or was that a gulp? – of wine. "No, no, we should go on. Like I said before, I had already heard of his death. I just had not heard how he died. It is funny, you know…how I felt this ring should go to the lad, Merlin. The ring that was created for the man who, I now find out, died protecting him. Fate and Destiny always seem to get their way."

"I don't believe in fate or destiny" the young prince smiled.

Horatius laughed, "Don't be so quick to dismiss the superstitions of an old man. For most, Fate and Destiny have little bearing on their life….For others…" he stared hard at Arthur "…they play a pivotal role". Arthur refilled both their cups and the old man continued.

"Let me think where I should start, I guess starting near the beginning is good eh?" he said with a laugh. "When I met Balinor, he was just a bit more than a boy, probably around his 16th summer. He had moved to the area with his father Lucan Ambrose." He glanced at Arthur who had raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Yes, he was of the Ambrosius line as was your father, although I am not sure of the exact lineage. Apparently Lucan's wife had died in an illness of pregnancy a year or so before they moved here. As he was of Ambrosius ancestry, Rome had interceded on his behalf requesting a beneficium, and he was granted lands around the White Mountains. It was not good for farming, but it was an excellent area for dragons." At Arthur's wide-eyed expression, the old man laughed "Yes, from the lands of my manor, it was quite common to see dragons flying overhead."

"But didn't they attack?!" Arthur asked stunned.

"Oh no, my boy. Dragons don't attack humans unless there is good cause."

"But the Great Dragon!" Arthur exclaimed.

Horatius sighed "Arthur, Kilgharrah – That is the Great Dragon's name – Watched his kin killed by your father, as well as the dragonlords _and_ their children…not just the sons, but the daughters as well. All of them executed. Then he was chained in the dark for 20 years…..If it were you, and you escaped…would you not seek out revenge? I know I would."

Arthur began to answer, then stopped and gave the question considerable thought. "Yes, I am sure that I would. But you speak as though he reasoned as a man and not a mindless beast."

Horatius started, and looked closely at Arthur. "Arthur…" he began hesitantly "what, exactly, were you taught about dragons?"

The prince frowned, knowing he was probably not going to like where the question would lead. "I was taught that they were dangerous magical beasts that would attack and destroy entire villages for no reason. That they were a danger to the kingdom and that the dragonlords were sorcerers who could spell them to do their bidding."

Horatius sighed and wearily rubbed his head. Arthur continued, eyeing the old man "But…that isn't the whole truth is it?"

The old man sighed and looked up at Arthur. "Son, it isn't in me to contradict the teachings of your father."

"No." anger simmering in Arthur's eyes and voice "my father has kept too much from me! How am I to be a good king one day if I am lied to and kept in the dark about things I should know?" Arthur leaned back and ran his hands through his hair then rubbed his face. When he looked at the man again he was calmer "Please Horatius, I know you are loyal to my father, but I need you to tell me the truth."

Horatius hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, but please remember, I am not an expert of dragon lore, what I learned, I learned through Lucan and Balinor." Arthur nodded his understanding and Horatius continued. "Dragons are highly intelligent creatures. They are able to speak once they have learned the language. Most begin learning the language of their dragonlord as hatchlings. Of course I presume they can learn other human languages as well. They also have their own dragon language which is very harsh and impossible to duplicate. Well except for dragonlords. I remember the first time I heard Lucan call a dragon. I was astounded that such a sound could come for a human mouth." The old man laughed and shook his head "Balinor, when he was young, would try to mimic his father to call a dragon, it never worked and he was always upset. His father would clap him on the shoulder and would assure him that his day would come. Anyway, I digress…um, let's see" He scratched his head as if the act would bring other information to mind. "Dragons have a very long lifespan. Where ours number in the tens of years, theirs are in the hundreds or even thousands of years. It is hard for me to even fathom to live so long. Lucan told me that Kilgharrah was over a thousand years old, and still in his prime. Imagine that! But really, it makes sense when we come to the next part."

He looks up at Arthur to make sure he is listening. "It is said that the wisdom of a dragon is second to none. That the great dragons are the creators and keepers of prophecies. That the Old Religion grants the greatest of them the right to influence fate and to assure destiny is achieved." He paused for a moment as if trying to remember something. "Now here, is where I am not so sure on things. There are dragons, and then there are Great Dragons. The best I could understand is that all are born dragons, but that when they reach a certain point…perhaps age or knowledge, they become 'Great Dragons'. I presume it is similar to the hierarchy of us humans. Rulers are supposed to be more intelligent and wiser than the common man…and if one isn't, he surrounds himself with those who are, lest he be overthrown as a nit-wit. Yes, I agree with your father, a ruler must be strong. But strength alone does not make for a prosperous kingdom. A King who rules wisely will have fewer comrades fall in battle, and healthier and safer citizens."

Horatius paused to take a sip of wine then continued "Getting back to dragons, it is said that the older they are, the harder they are to kill. Their scales grow thicker and harder and become almost impenetrable. I think that is the real reason Uther kept Kilgharrah as a 'trophy', I don't think he could figure out how to kill him. I was no longer in the kingdom by that time, but I hear the only way they captured him was by holding Balinor hostage with a sword to his throat. The dragon agreed to be subdued if Balinor was released." The old man paused to give the prince a chance to ask any questions.

Something troubled Arthur about some of the last part that Horatius had said about dragons. A niggling in his mind, but he couldn't put his finger on it. So he went back to something the man had said earlier. "You mentioned earlier about Balinor not being a dragonlord when you met him. How does one become a dragonlord? Is there a test, or ceremony when they become a dragonlord?"

"No. The gift of being a dragonlord is inherited. Although all children of dragonlords have an affinity with dragons, one does not have the power to control dragons or speak dragontongue until they become a dragonlord. Dragonlords are 'Kin' to dragons. When the old dragonlord dies, it is like a string is snipped separating their souls, and that string attaches to the firstborn male. If it is twin males, both will become dragonlords. However, I have heard that it is not absolute that the gift will pass. They do not know why. Lucan hypothesized that it may be due to the character of the heir. He said he had only seen the power not passing one time. He said the son of that dragonlord was a cruel and vicious man. It would have indeed been a catastrophe for such a person to be able to command dragons. So I think, from all I have heard of dragonlords, that his theory may be valid."

The prince thought of another question, "Are dragonlords sorcerers?"

The old man thought for a moment. "Not all. Some are, some aren't. Since dragons are magical beings, the dragonlords must have at least a spark of that special magic in them. But it doesn't mean that they can perform magic. Some can, yes. Lucan could do magic. He was quite good at it actually. But he mostly used it to amuse others. However it did come in handy when a wagon carting logs broke and the logs started rolling down the hill. It saved the lives of a couple of children that day. Balinor, however….I never really saw him performing anything other than healing magic. He may have been able to…or possibly picked it up later in life, but I don't know. Of the few others I had met, some had no magic capabilities at all, while others did. So it is pretty much a toss-up, I guess."

Arthur looked down at the ring again. "So….how does all of this concern Merlin?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note:  
Here is chapter 3. Hey! Look at the picture I am using for the story. Yes, that is a younger John Lynch! (the actor that played Balinor).  
The story will update slower after this chapter. School starts next Monday and my daughter's birthday is that Friday…so that means a lot of back to school shopping and house cleaning in my immediate future. But I still should update every 2-3 days.**

 **Enjoy!**

Horatius laughed. "I don't know that any of it concerns him at all. If you remember, we got sort of side tracked."

"You're right, we were talking of Balinor, weren't we?" Arthur chuckled. But in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but think that somehow, someway, at least part of it _did_ concern his manservant.

"Like I said, they moved here when Balinor was around 16 summers. Their land truly wasn't hospitable to farming. The soil was good, but very rocky. We made arrangements that Balinor would work for us when he wasn't needed there. At first, I wasn't quite sure how it would work out. Balinor was quite tall, thin, and completely uncoordinated." Horatius laughed, "I swear the boy could trip over thin air!" Arthur had to chuckle, he could see where Merlin would have reminded him of Balinor. Horatius continued after taking another sip of wine. "Balinor was well liked by everyone. He always had a smile on his face and was always willing to help out wherever he was needed. However, he did seem to babble on incessantly about this thing or that. Half the time, he acted like a complete idiot. Drove me mad half the time. But strangely enough, when troubles came…he always knew the right thing to say. He would display a wisdom of someone thrice his age." Horatius shook his head "It was a truly amazing thing."

Arthur just stared at him like a doe caught in the sights of his bow. The man had just described Merlin to a T.

The old man didn't notice and continued on. "Balinor continued to grow and fill out. When he was about 18 he started growing a beard. We all laughed because it was so scraggly at first, but it finally filled in." He laughed again, then all mirth left him. "Then the bad times came.

"Word came of King Constans' murder at the hands of Vortigern. We refused to acknowledge Vortigern as the rightful king. When he called for the nobles to assemble, we refused to go. Likewise, we also refused to send men when he requested them for his army. We did, however, tell those that held fief that they could go if the wished without threat losing their homes. They all decided to stay as well. So we knew Vortigern and his army would be coming for our lands eventually."

"Weren't the other nobles just as upset?" Arthur interjected.

"Well…" Horatius began, then paused. After a moment he began again. "Constans was a _good_ man. He was kind. He was well learned, especially in history and philosophy. He would often quote Cicero, Plato, Aristotle" Horatius laughed. "You name one, he could probably quote him." The old man became serious again. "He _did_ care a lot for the people. The people were fond of him as well.

"However, he was not a _strong_ king. When I said earlier that a king needs knowledgeable and wise advisers, I was dead serious. However, in the end, it is the _KING_ who must make the decisions. Unfortunately, in Constans' case, he allowed his advisors to rule through him. Vortigen was one of his closest advisors…How, I don't know. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that the man was downright seedy. It was probably because they were related through his mother. I guess he couldn't conceive of the notion that family would try to use him or betray him.

"I presume that the other lords wanted to see how Vortigen would rule. They had known Constans was weak. They probably feared that he would not be able to protect their own interests. Not all, of course. There were many that sided with us. Then there were the lords with weak holdings, even if they were against Vortigen, they could not resist. However many of those worked as spies for us, passing us information from the court."

The prince and goldsmith decided to take a break as both had been sitting for some time. They walked along the outer corridor and came to a covered balcony overlooking the town. The night was cool and the air refreshing. They stood there in silence looking at the town below. Every now and then, they could hear laughter coming from the tavern, but overall, it was a quiet night. The prince turned to say something to the goldsmith when there was a sudden commotion below. Apparently someone had been thrown out of the tavern. They looked down to see a figure on the ground. It slowly stood up. In the moonlight Arthur could make out a thin, tall frame. Dark hair. Brown coat. Red neckerchief. Arthur ran his hand over his face and sighed. The two men watched has Merlin stood up and brushed himself off. He stood there for a moment, hands clenched by his side. He then marched straight away back into the tavern.

Arthur shook his head and murmured "Idiot." He looked at Horatius and said in a long-suffering tone "I've _told_ him not to go to the tavern." Before Horatius could respond, there was a loud bang of a door and they watched this time as two men were thrown out. Both landed on the ground as Merlin had before. Merlin got up then helped the other man to stand. Arthur sighed again. He signaled the old man to step back into the shadows so they could observe without being seen.

"Gwaine, c'mon, we need to get you back to your quarters" they heard the manservant say.

"Naw! Come on Merlin, you've only had one drink. Live a little" the slightly unsteady knight said.

"I hadn't intended on a drink at all. You're the one that shoved it at me" Merlin argued.

"Well, you need another. You are much too sober." The knight quipped.

"Gwaine, if we go back in there, they will call the guards. I don't need Arthur finding out I was in the tavern. He'll throw me in the stocks for sure!" Merlin all but whined.

"If you are so worried about Princess, why were you in the tavern in the first place?" Gwaine asked.

Merlin threw his hands up in exasperation. "To. Get. You. You have early patrol tomorrow, remember?"

"Sleep is so overrated. Come on" he said trying to pull Merlin towards the tavern.

The manservant pulled away from the drunken knight. He appeared to be looking about to see if anyone was around then lowered his head and murmured something. Gwaine stopped and turned around. "What?"

"What what?" The manservant asked innocently.

"You said something"

"Oh, that was nothing" He paused looking straight at Gwaine. "Now Gwaine, I need you to go to your chambers and get a few hours sleep."

"Okay." Gwaine chirped happily. He looked around as if he couldn't remember which way to go.

Merlin sighed taking Gwaine's arm and started to steer the drunken man towards the knights quarters. After a few moments Gwaine stopped and pulled out his waterskin and took a drink and passed it to Merlin. Merlin sniffed at it and looked askance at the knight. Gwaine laughed and slapped the younger man on the back. "C'mon, you know as well as I that you want to"

Merlin laughed and tipped the skin up and took a long drink. Both men laughed and headed down towards the knights quarters.

Arthur harrumphed. "How did Merlin do that? Gwaine usually puts up a much stronger argument when he's in his cups."

Horatius hid a smirk. "I'm sure I couldn't say, My Lord. Let's just be happy that he was able to convince him to go home.

"I can't argue with that." The prince responded as he and the old man started to make their way back down the corridors.

Arthur looked over at Horatius and noted that the old man looked tired. He was getting rather tired himself. The wine and then the mead had relaxed him somewhat. Not enough to make him tipsy, no, not at all. But enough to relax him after such a long day. "Horatius, I really would like to hear the rest of your story….but it is getting late, and I think we are both tired. Do you think we could continue with it tomorrow? Say, possibly around lunch time?"

"That would be fine, My Lord. Are you sure you won't be too busy?" The old man asked.

"No, I canceled all meetings for tomorrow. I only have training in the morning." The prince yawned. At Horatius' questioning look, he added "I just needed a break. We have no urgent matters that have to be discussed, so…I just decided to cancel everything. Well, other than training."

Horatius laughed. "That is quite alright Your Highness. We all need a chance to step back and reflect from time to time."

"My father never did." Arthur said sadly.

Horatius stopped, forcing the prince to stop as well. He looked at the prince with an expression that brooked no argument. "Arthur, I can assure you that your father did indeed take time out for reflection or to relax. He would not have been able to lead had he not. The human mind is not meant to be spinning with thoughts constantly without reprieve… _especially_ in times of trouble. It has to take time out to slow down and calm itself – to think clearly, or sometime, not to think at all. A chaotic mind makes mistakes."

"I never notice him doing so" sighed the prince.

"Ah, but he did. He was just good at hiding it so that no one noticed" the older man assured him.

Arthur smiled at the old man and they continued on their way. Arthur thought about what Horatius said and it made sense. As the came to the hall where the guest chambers were, Horatius made his leave and assured the prince that they would continue tomorrow.

Arthur continued on to his chambers and put on the bed clothes that Merlin had laid out earlier. Instead of going straight to bed, he walked to his antechamber and refilled half his goblet with mead. He went to the window and looked out on the quiet courtyard below trying to think of nothing at all.

About an hour later he was still there leaning relaxed against the window when he heard someone walking in the courtyard. He looked closer and realized that it was Merlin coming back from the direction of the knights chambers. He watched as his manservant crossed the courtyard in a considerably less steady manner than when he had walked the knight home. Arthur's lips quirked as Merlin stumbled a few times. He outright laughed when Merlin walked into the corner of the wall leading to the stairs that went up to Gauis' chambers. When Merlin was finally out of view the prince set down his goblet and headed for his chambers and to bed.

He shook his head one last time and chuckled fondly. "Idiot."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:  
Thanks for all the follows, faves and reviews!  
I apologize. I meant to have this story up last night, but it just didn't get done. This particular chapter doesn't have any of the 'story' in it. Arthur just couldn't let Merlin's time at the tavern go unnoticed, now could he?  
The 'story' portion will continue in the next chapter. PLEASE NOTE. The next update probably won't be until the beginning or middle of next week.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **P.S. Please point out any errors. I only reread it twice and probably missed mistakes.**

* * *

Arthur woke early. He had been dreaming, he remembered that much. He was trying to remember the contents of the dream that was vanishing like wisps of smoke as his emerging consciousness fanned them away. It hadn't been a bad dream, he was sure of that. He had dreamed of dragons. Not like the nightmares that he used to have of the Great Dragon's attack – ones that he always denied having. No, these were just of…dragons. Hundreds of dragons flying around in the sky much like playful birds. He had dreamed of Balinor as well. The gruff older man refusing to help, then, for some unknown reason, changing his mind. In his dream, the old dragonlord was wearing the ring that Horatius had shown him. But Arthur remembered Horatius saying that the dragonlord had never received it.

He dreamed of the soldiers attacking. He heard a loud angry yell that sounded suspiciously like his manservant. Then he was walking through the quiet woods, the birds singing. He was happy. He looked up at a tree and the ring was hanging like leaf on a stem. He plucked it and looked closely at it. The stone was pulsating brightly with colors and images. Then suddenly, he was standing before Merlin on the ground holding a dead Balinor. He looked at Balinor's hand. The ring was still there. Then it started to shimmer and disappeared. It reappeared on Merlin's hand with the same shimmer. They both looked at the ring, then at each other. Merlin looked him in the eye full of resolve and strength.

"It is mine now. I _deserve_ it, after all."

Yes, that is what had woken him. The shock of the manservant's words spoken with such coldness. His demeanor, almost challenging.

Arthur closed his eyes again. He remembered that day well. No, Merlin wasn't cold or challenging. He was in tears. Tears over a man that they had just met. Arthur often wondered at the ease in which his manservant would give friendship and show emotion. He, himself, was obviously quite different. He had found while growing up that the 'friendships' he had were usually one-sided and usually because his 'friend' wanted to be in good standing with the prince – or his father. Showing emotions was forbidden. It was pretty much the same with all royalty and nobility. A boys were taught early on that they were never to display emotion…that it was a sign of weakness.

Maybe it was that Merlin had grown up as a peasant. Perhaps they had different beliefs about showing emotions. Or…it could be that Merlin had grown up without a father around. Perhaps only having a mother as a reference for behavior, he learned to show his emotion. Regardless of the reason, Merlin was probably the most compassionate person he knew….and Arthur wouldn't have it any other way.

Arthur burrowed down further into his bed. He wanted to go back to sleep. He saw that the sun had come up as he could see the light leaking through at the sides of the curtains. Still, it was his day off, dammit, and he should be able to lie in.

He closed his eyes again, not really remembering when he had opened them, and tried to go back to sleep. Instead, he started to think about the ring. He had been a bit embarrassed when Horatius indicated that it should go to Merlin. Why hadn't _he_ thought to have something made for his manservant? Come to think of it, why hadn't he even considered knighting the man? Well…that part was easy, Merlin was rubbish at fighting. No, that wasn't exactly true. Merlin has been known to dispatch a bandit or two. His fighting skills have improved considerably over time, but still, his skills are nowhere on par with that of a warrior.

Still, Merlin was loyal. More than that, he was completely and utterly loyal to _him_. To _him_ and to Camelot. He wasn't quite so sure about his father though. His manservant seemed to be terrified of the king for some reason. Then again, most of the servants were. But Merlin seemed more fearful than most.

Arthur had long ago stopped trying to figure out his enigmatic manservant. But what he did know was that Merlin was compassionate, loyal, kind, humble, cheeky, bold, audacious, wise, _and_ a complete idiot. The man was a walking contradiction.

Merlin was the one who was able to pull him out of the castle after they watched Morgana's betrayal. Arthur had been too numb to move. Merlin was also the one to pull him out of his slump several days later by throwing his rare, but oh so wise, words at him. Merlin had gone with them to take back Camelot. Merlin stayed beside Arthur – always.

So why did Arthur not think of him when he wanted to give the new knights a memento to thank them for their support and loyalty?

Propriety.

That same propriety that refused to allow Arthur to call Merlin 'Friend.' That same propriety that expected Merlin to be invisible except for when needed. To _serve_ Arthur. To be a _nonentity_ as far as royals and nobility were concerned.

Arthur mentally groaned, he really was the pompous prat that Merlin had so often accused him of being.

That was going to change. No, he really could not show deference to his manservant in public. But he would make sure, from now on, to let his friend know how much he was appreciated.

Arthur heard the soft click of the door opening. He heard someone quietly padding across the floor, then a tray being placed on the table.

Arthur smirked. He would show his appreciation later.

He heard the curtains being drawn back quickly. Light burst into the room. His manservant groaned.

"It's time to get up, Sire!" Merlin called out considerably softer than his usual cheery and robust manner.

"Good morning, Merlin." The prince replied.

Merlin spun around, looking like he wished he hadn't. "You're Awake!"

"Thank you for stating the obvious _Mer_ lin." The prince quipped as he sat up. "You're late"

Merlin apologized. "Sorry sire, I overslept. Gaius was in the lower town tending an illness all night. He wasn't back to wake me up."

The prince smirked. "Are you saying, _Mer_ lin, that at your age, you _still_ need someone to wake you up?"

The manservant slowly turned and looked Arthur in the eye, saying nothing. His eyebrow, however, slowly rose in a scary imitation of Gaius.

Arthur barked out a laugh. "Don't give me that. I'm the prince, _you_ are my manservant. It is your _job_ to wake me up."

"Yes sire." Merlin sighed, "Would you like to eat your breakfast now, before it gets cold?"

Arthur walked to the table and looked at his servant. He really did look a bit green around the gills. "You feeling okay Merlin? You are a bit quiet this morning."

"Just a slight headache, sire." Merlin said as he unconsciously put his hand to his temple "I must have slept crookedly last night"

Arthur quickly picked up his goblet and took a drink to hide his smile. After composing himself, he set his goblet down. "I don't know, maybe you haven't had enough to eat, here take a sausage" he said as he stabbed a sausage with his fork then lifted it and put it right under his manservant's nose.

Merlin backed away hastily paling and looking decidedly nauseous. "No, that is quite alright. I've already eaten."

Arthur shoved the sausage at him again "You sure? You look awfully peaked."

His manservant grimaced and backed further away. "I'm sure. Besides, you need it to build up your strength for training."

Arthur set down the fork then stepped close to Merlin, getting into his personal space. "You went to the tavern last night didn't you?"

"What? No, no!" the manservant denied vehemently, his voice about an octave higher than usual. "I, um, went home last night…you know, seeing as I usually don't have a lot of free time. I wanted to spend some time with Gaius."

"I though Gaius was in the lower town" came the cool reply.

"Oh, um that was, uh, later that he got called out" the manservant replied nervously. "I went to bed after that."

"Uh huh…" The prince tilted his head. Merlin truly was a terrible liar. "So, you didn't get drunk at the tavern?"

Merlin looked him straight in the eye "I did not get drunk in the tavern." He said calmly.

Arthur just looked at him. This was interesting. Merlin couldn't tell a straight out lie to save his life, but it seems he is pretty good at lying by omission. Arthur would have to remember that. "So, you didn't get drunk last night…at all?"

"Arthur, how many times have you told me not to go to the tavern? Not that you really have a right to, mind you" the manservant pointed out "Be that as it may, I really don't cherish the thought of you putting me in the stocks. They are rather uncomfortable you know…plus sometime they throw _potatoes_! They _hurt_!"

Well, this is very interesting. It seems his manservant was rather good at lying by omission _and_ by redirection. He wouldn't get away with it. "You didn't answer the question."

Merlin sighed "Arthur, why on earth do you keep insisting that I was out drinking last night?

"One" the prince began by raising a finger "Your breath reeks of it."

Merlin's eyes widened and he clamped his mouth shut.

"Two" the prince continued, bringing up a second finger. "You are obviously rather hung over."

Merlin sighed.

Arthur took a step back because, really, Merlin's breath did reek of that sickly sweet smell of someone who had too much to drink.

"And three," Arthur smirked as he held up the third finger. "I saw you getting thrown out of there".

Merlin stood there staring at his prince looking slightly horrified that he had be caught. Finally he sighed. "Arthur, I just went in there to get Gwaine out. He had early patrol this morning and I didn't want him showing up drunk."

"Ok, I'll accept that" The prince crossed his arms. "And then, you saw to it that Gwaine got back to his chambers?"

"Yes." Came the reply from the relieved servant. Apparently the prince would let it slide.

"And then?" The prince asked raising his eyebrows.

Merlin started looking around nervously and said with a small voice "We may have had another drink or two…" Arthur raised his eyebrows further "….or three" Merlin finished slightly above a whisper.

The prince put his hands on his hips and looked at his friend wearily. He started to say something then stopped. He worried about how much his friend drank. He, himself, rarely saw the man out drinking, but with Gaius always saying he was at the tavern, he figured that Merlin must be trying to hide it from him. However, he didn't want to ride him today. He would have a quiet discussion with him about it later. Perhaps the young man might be less defensive and more open if it were done in a non-confrontational manner.

"Very well" the prince finally said as he walked back to the table, sat, and began on his breakfast. He reached down and took a large piece of bread and handed it to Merlin. "Here, eat this. It will settle your stomach. I don't need you passing out on me when we go down for training."

Merlin watched him suspiciously. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Prince Arthur?"

Arthur huffed out a laugh. "What's the matter Merlin? I _can_ be nice every once and a while. Besides, you are right, it really isn't my business. With all we have been through in the last month, I won't begrudge you a night of drink and relaxation." He took a bite of his sausage and chewed on it thoughtfully. "As long as it doesn't happen again."

"I thought you agreed that it wasn't any of your business." The manservant huffed.

"And it won't be. Until it needs to be." Was the prince's simple reply.

Merlin studied Arthur silently trying to figure out the man's strange behavior. However, he didn't want to argue since Arthur could still change his mind about the stocks.

"So how did your meeting go with Horatius?" Merlin figured the best thing to do was to just change subjects.

"It went quite well. Which reminds me, have the cook prepare lunch for two today in my chambers. Horatius will be dining with me again."

Merlin stopped short and turned to look at his prince. "What's going on Arthur?"

Arthur laughed. Merlin was suspicious of everything these days. "Nothing at all. He was regaling me with an old story about…" Arthur stopped. Something inside him told him not to mention Balinor's name. "…the days before my father became king. It was quite interesting, but it got late and we decided to finish it today."

Merlin still looked at him a bit suspiciously, but turned and started gathering up the clothes that Arthur had strown around.

"Oh, when Gaius gets back I want to speak with him. Horatius has requested to see my father. However, he suggested that we check with Gaius first to make sure it won't cause my father agitation." The prince said uncertainly. "Usually, I would say no, but they are very old friends. I want to know what Gaius thinks."

"I'll check with him right after we get you dressed, and I go deliver the laundry." Merlin responded with his goofy smile. For once he was happy that he didn't have to be _overly_ suspicious of someone. Gaius had spoken quite fondly of the man and said he was completely trustworthy. Even so, he was a bit concerned at how fast this man had gotten close to Arthur.

Merlin helped Arthur dress then left to drop off the laundry and to find Gaius.

Arthur was going over paperwork when a knock came at the door. He bade them to enter. Gaius walked in and stood before him.

"You wished to see me sire?" The elderly physician asked.

"Yes. As you know, Horatius is visiting." At the physician's nod, Arthur continued. "He is wanting to visit with my father, and I need your advice. Would it be…wise?"

Gaius knew what the prince was actually asking. "Horatius is an old friend. I don't know if it will improve your father's condition to see him, but I do not believe it would do harm either." The physician paused "I also know that Horatius will not divulge your father's condition to others."

"Thank you Gaius, that's what I needed to know." Arthur knew that it would not bode well for the true magnitude of his father's condition to be made known publically. "I was wondering if you could accompany Horatius to see him. I would go, but I have to be on the field in 30 minutes."

"I would be happy to sire." The physician bowed and left.

Arthur worked his new knights hard, but all were quite capable. More capable, he thought, than many of the other knights that had been training for years. He would need to work out a new training routine for all the knights. Some of the older knights had become downright sloppy. That would change.

After finishing he walked over to Merlin who had been watching from the bench. Merlin handed him a ladle of water and a wet cloth to place at the back of his neck.

"Well, how do they look?" the prince inquired.

"They are good. However Elyan is leaving his left flank open to attack. He really needs to work on that." Merlin replied lazily.

"Very good Merlin, you are finally starting to learn something" The prince teased.

After returning to Arthur's room, Merlin filled a bowl with warm water so the prince could sponge himself off before lunch. "Will you be needing me to serve you during lunch?" the manservant asked.

"No, I think we can manage on our own as long as you set everything up" The prince called out from behind the screen. "However, make sure to bring up a second pitcher of wine this time. We ran out last night."

Arthur heard Merlin grumble something about how the prince needed to pay attention to his own drinking instead of harping on him about his. He chose to ignore it.

Merlin set the table in the antechamber that the prince and goldsmith had been in last night. He then called out to one of the other servants to have the food brought up, and he, himself, left to escort the elderly man.

When Merlin and Horatius returned, the servants were finishing setting out the food. "Are you sure you wouldn't like me to stay sire?"

"No, I think I can manage serving myself this once _Mer_ lin. I'm not completely incompetent with food you know." The prince quipped.

"No, just with cooking it." The manservant smirked back.

"That will be all, _Mer_ lin" The prince glared at the manservant. He really didn't want Merlin telling Horatius about _that_ story.

The manservant gave them both a bow and started to leave. He paused at the door as if remembering something. "Oh, just so you know, Gaius has requested I go out to pick some herbs. But I will be back well before dinner"

"Picking herbs isn't a euphemism for going to the tavern is it?" The prince asked raising his eyebrow.

Merlin rolled his eyes and sighed. "No, Arthur. I am really going out to gather herbs. We are running low."

"Okay then, if you are sure…you are dismissed." Arthur figured Merlin wouldn't be stupid enough to go back to the tavern right now, but he still wanted to mess with the man a bit.

Arthur turned to his guest and motioned him to sit down. "I trust you slept well?"

"I slept quite well, sire. Thank you for such comfortable accommodations." The old goldsmith replied.

Arthur nodded at the thanks. "And how was your visit with Father?"

Horatius frowned. "It went well as one could expect." He paused and looked at the prince sadly. "I'm so sorry Arthur. I knew it was bad, I just hadn't expected it to be _that_ bad. But, he _did_ recognize me, and we spoke, but only for a short time."

Arthur just nodded and looked at the man. "Horatius" he began, wondering how to phrase his next thought without possibly offending the man. "It is very important that the people not know the magnitude…"

Horatius held out his hand to stop the prince. "Yes, I completely understand. You can be assured that I will not speak of this to anyone. How are you doing with the council? It might be best for them not to know the full extent of his illness." Arthur opened his mouth to argue but Horatius held up his hand again. "Arthur, I live far from here. Even I have heard about Uther's…infirmity. Luckily, for once, the hearsay is not as bad as the actual truth – we need to keep it that way."

Arthur had kept it quiet from the Council, but had debating with the idea of full disclosure to the Council. "Surely they would stay quiet, it would be in their best interest, after all."

The old man smiled sadly. "Arthur, where do you think I heard the news from?" He sighed at Arthur's shocked expression. "The ones that told me had no ill intent. People just talk, especially if they are concerned. Then you have to worry about servants that might overhear. Most personal servants are faithful to their master and know to keep their mouth shut…but not all. No, Arthur, this needs to be held in close confidence by his most trusted advisors.

"Remember one thing Arthur. Not all on the council are your friends. They are nobles whose major concern is how to keep their wealth. Most are fully loyal to Uther, but not all." He slipped his hand in his robe and brought out a piece of parchment. He looked at it a moment then handed it to Arthur. "These are some of the people you need to be wary of."

Arthur looked down at the list. Most of the names on it didn't surprise him. He had either been told by his father, or had noticed himself the nobles that were untrustworthy. He did however raise his eyebrows at a few names.

"Lord Bendal?" Arthur asked surprised.

"His lands border Alined's. There has been recent rumors that there have been talks between the two."

"You seem to know a lot, Horatius. How is that?" Arthur asked trying not to sound suspicious.

Horatius barked out a laugh. "I travel a lot Sire. _And_ , I still have a lot of contacts….I _hear_ things"

Arthur chewed his lip. He wondered about the man before him. He was a very talented goldsmith, but knew so much about the workings of a kingdom.

Horatius laughed again picking up on Arthur's mood. "Don't worry sire, I think by the end of the story, most of your questions will be answered."

Arthur was startled out of his thoughts, embarrassed that he had been so transparent. "Ah, yes. I was wanting to get back to that."

Horatius smiled broadly. "Very well, let's continue then." The old man took a bite of his food. "Now, where were we?..."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**

 **SURPRISE! An early chapter! Unfortunately, the next chapter won't be until, at least, mid week...and a good possibility that it won't be until next weekend.**

 **This chapter sees us getting back to the 'story'.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Horatius set his fork down and scratched his head trying to remember where he had halted the story the day before. He finally looked blankly at Arthur. "I'm sorry, I'm getting old. Do you remember where we left off?"

Arthur frowned in concentration, then laughed. "I'm not that old and can't remem…" he trailed for a moment "Wait…Now I remember. Constans had just been assassinated, and you refused to send anyone for Vortigen's army.

The old man brightened, "Ah yes! And we were concerned about them coming for our lands."

Horatius paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "Galan had a very small Holding to the south of us. He only had a manor house and several fields for the serfs to work. They had no type of protection. I went to him and asked him to join us. I told him that there was a good chance we could not protect his manor, but that we would try to keep his family safe."

Arthur looked slightly confused. "Galan?"

The old man smiled. "He was Sir Ector's father"

The prince's eyes brightened in recognition. "I know Sir Ector. His son, Kay, and I knew each other growing up…but you said it was a small holding. I have been to Sir Ector's estate. It is quite large."

"Ector was granted more lands after fighting for your father. Plus he is the Tenant and Chief Pro Tempore for my lands. But, we are getting ahead of ourselves" The old man winked at Arthur.

"Galan, Lucan, myself, and several of the knights had a meeting to discuss plans. We knew that it should be at least several weeks before Vortigen's army could arrive. It was decided to bring in the harvest as quickly as possible as well as ensure that the walls were well fortified.

"The harvest was large and time was short. We used everyone available to bring it in, even the women and small children. We could hold out in a siege, but not if we didn't have food to sustain us. Lucan came down to help with the harvest as well. Before doing so, he sent some of the dragons out to hunt to bring us meat and fish, and others to try to find Aurelius and Uther and to keep them safe until we could get to them. Unfortunately, that left his lands unprotected. There were only a few laying females there along with the eggs and hatchlings.

"Lucan and Balinor had been with us about a week, working on the harvest and on fortifications. We were eating dinner when Lucan suddenly looked up. He had a look of dread in his eyes. He told me something was happening with the dragons. He got up and walked outside. I could hear him calling for a dragon to come to him since his home was half a day's ride by horseback. He waited for close to an hour before Kilgharrah came.

"Balinor grabbed his bag to go with him, but Lucan told him to stay. He said it was probably nothing and for the boy to get some sleep since they still had to finish the harvest. I remember he grabbed Balinor and gave him a fierce hug before he climbed onto Kilgharrah and flew off. I don't know. May…maybe he sensed something…"

The old man paused for a moment and stared down at his hands. "Later that night, Balinor woke up screaming from a nightmare. He was still yelling and thrashing about when we got to him. My wife tried to go to him to comfort him…but he threw her back. His eyes were wide open, but I think he was still in the throes of his nightmare….then it happened. He threw back his head and bellowed out a guttural roar that I had heard his father use so many times when calling a dragon." Horatius paused for a moment, then continued, his voice cracking "That is when I knew. Lucan was gone."

He stopped, unable to continue. Arthur noticed a lone tear sliding down the man's face. Horatius reached for his goblet, but found it empty. Arthur grabbed the pitcher and refilled the cup halfway. He then patted the man on the shoulder and said he would be right back. Arthur retreated to his chamber and returned with a decanter containing a dark amber liquid. "This is mead from Gaul. It is rather potent, but I think you could do with a stiff drink."

The old man looked up, having used the few moments that Arthur was gone to compose himself. "Thank you, I surely could." Arthur poured them both a small amount. Horatius took a sip and raised his brows "This is quite good. I'm sorry for being such a foolish old man to shed tears for something that happened so long ago."

Arthur looked him in the eye "Sometimes sharing a sad memory can bring back the emotions. Think nothing of it. Will you be able to continue on with your story?"

"Yes, I am fine now" He said as he took another sip. He sat down the goblet and continued. "It took only a little while before a dragon appeared. It wasn't Kilgharrah. It told us to come with it. There were men staying in the compound who heard Balinor's screams who had come out to see what the commotion was. I told them to mount up at first light and head to Lucan's place, that something had happened. Then I went with Balinor." He chuckled as a thought struck him "I have to say that riding on the back of a dragon is an experience I will never forget. And one that I never wish to repeat." He became somber again. "Although it seemed like forever, it only took us a few minutes to get there. As we were coming down to land, I could see Kilgharrah lying on the ground curled up like a sleeping dog. There was someone lying up against his front leg, and Kilgharrah's head resting next to him. Once we landed we sprinted over to them. Balinor was holding on to Lucan and yelling at Kilgharrah to heal him. Kilgharrah told him it was too late. They were both silent for a while…I presume they were using mind-speak to communicate. Balinor kept shaking his head 'no' and finally just looked down at his father and started sobbing.

Kilgharrah told me that as they were descending, the soldiers started shooting arrows at them and that Lucan was hit at his shoulder and fell. Yet still he was able to get up and fight. But injured as he was, he wasn't able to hold them off. Kilgharrah killed the rest of them with fire. When he got to Lucan, he was still alive, but only just. He tried to heal him, but the injuries were just too extensive. I don't know if it was the fall, or the sword wounds that killed him…maybe both."

He sighed wearily and took another sip of the mead. He looked at Arthur who seemed to want to ask something. "You have a question?"

"Yes, if you don't mind, you mentioned 'mind-speak', I don't know what that is. You also said Balinor wanted Kilgare – kilger –um, the dragon, to heal Lucan….?"

The old man thought for a second. "Ah, yes…well, Dragons have healing magic. Much stronger than even most druid healers. But still, there are some injuries that are just too severe. Believe me, if there were any way, Kilgharrah would have brought Lucan through. They were very close.

"As for 'mind-speak', well, that is what I call it. A dragon and his dragonlord can communicate without words….they hear each other in their minds."

"Like mind reading?" the prince asked looking somewhat mortified at the thought.

Horatius laughed. "No, not like that..um, like the conversation we are having now – just without speaking out loud. Some druids have the same gift to speak to each other without talking….I'm not sure if it is learned or if it is an innate ability for them. The druids I mean. Also, now that I think about it, Balinor could communicate with the dragons like that _before_ he became a dragonlord. So I am presuming that it's probably due to being the child of a dragonlord. As I said earlier, they have an affinity with dragons." He smiled "Truthfully, I had never really thought about it until now."

Arthur laughed "I have to admit, that would be a very useful talent to have." He paused for a moment "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your story, but I knew I would forget if I waited"

The old man smiled at him "Oh that is quite alright. Let's see, where were we? Oh yes. As the sun started coming up, I could look around better. There was carnage all around. The hatchlings had been slaughtered. Eggs that they had gathered to move, had been smashed. Two of the younger females had been slain – apparently trying to protect the hatchlings. Two others had been injured. Then there were the soldiers. About 25 of them. They had been burnt beyond any recognition. However we did find a banner. It had been Vortigern's men.

"As the morning wore on, more dragons and dragonlords returned. It was very tense. You could feel the anger rolling off them…both the dragons and the dragonlords. Balinor was in no state to even notice.

"Around midday we heard hoofbeats. The dragons took to the air for attack. Balinor came to himself in time to call them back when we realized they were the men we were waiting for.

"After my men arrived, we searched for any hatchlings or eggs that might have survived, but found nothing. We decided to take Lucan's body back with us as we wanted a proper funeral. The truth is, I needed our people to _see_ , to _know_ , what we were up against. I asked Balinor if it was okay, and he agreed. So we carefully wrapped Lucan's body and started back. Balinor and Kilgharrah took the body. Most of the dragons flew with them. The dragons that were carrying dragonlords stayed in the air above us as protection as we rode our horses back. We were pretty sure all of Voltigern's men had been killed,but the dragonlords wanted to ensure our safe return.

"When we arrived back, the sun had been down for several hours. My wife had already washed and prepared Lucan's body and had him laid in state so that everyone could pay their respects. It had been decided that his funeral would be held at midnight."

"Midnight?" the startled prince asked.

"Lucan was a dragonlord. Not only that, he was Kilgharrah's dragonlord. Kilgharrah was the eldest and undisputed leader of the group. That made Lucan the undisputed lead dragonlord. I guess it is something akin to being First Knight. Therefore, he would be given a full honor funeral. Apparently, they held those at midnight.

"Of course, I had never seen a dragonlord funeral, so I was rather curious. One of the other dragonlords had come and asked for a place that they could perform the ritual. He said it needed to be a place that would not be harmed for the earth to be scorched. I took him to a plot of land not far from the north curtain wall. It had been somewhat rocky and hard to work. I asked if it would be okay, or if they needed a better site. He said it would be fine, but that people would need to stay back. He suggested watching from the wall. It would offer the best view and keep them safe from the heat. He explained that usually, only the dragon that the dragonlord was bound to would perform the rite. But due to Lucan's standing, all the dragons would perform the ritual to honor him.

"I asked him if there was any danger due to the heat, but he assured me that they would keep the heat contained to that area. He wanted the people to stay back just to be safe.

"A couple of hours later, we had all gathered on the wall to watch. The entire length of the wall was filled with people at least two deep, as well as the towers. I'd like to think it was in reverence to Lucan, but I suspect some may have just come because they were curious.

"There were about fifteen dragons of various sizes and five dragonlords, excluding Balinor. The dragons stood in a large circle surrounding Lucan who was laid out on the ground. The dragonlords stood next to their own dragon. Balinor stood next to Kilgharrah. Everything became very quiet.

"Balinor called out something in a language I didn't know. The other dragonlords repeated his words then walked forward, surrounding Lucan and bowed on their knees with their foreheads touching the ground. Kilgharrah then bellowed out something in dragontongue. Then he, and all the dragons bowed down to the ground laying their head on the ground facing Lucan.

"The dragonlords then stood up and turned to face the dragons. Each held a cup. They each walked to a different dragon and placed the cup next to one of the dragon's eyes. Then it looked like the dragon shed a tear into the cup. They did that until each dragon had placed a tear in a cup except Kilgharrah.

"They then took the contents and poured it all into a single cup.

"Then Balinor had taken a cup and placed it to Kilgharrah's eye and also collected a single tear. He walked forward to his father's body and bent down and said something again in that language. He dipped his finger in the cup and touched Lucan's forehead. He repeated the act again, this time placing his hand on his father's chest.

"He then stood and took the cup from one of the other dragonlords. He added that cup of tears to his. He raised the cup towards the sky and chanted those same words that he had said before. He handed the cup back to one of the dragonlords and stepped back. The cup passed from dragonlord to dragonlord. Each one performed the same ritual to Lucan that Balinor had done earlier. Then they handed the cup back to Balinor.

"He bent down again over Lucan and said something quietly to his father. I think must have been a final goodbye. He ran his hand along the side of Lucan's face gently as he spoke. He then stood up and poured the remainder of the cup over Lucan's chest. He turned and he, and all the other dragonlords, started walking towards their dragons. The other's continued walking past the dragons until they were well behind them. Balinor, though, walked to Kilgharrah and bowed deeply to the Great Dragon. He then straightened, and like the others, walked past the dragon until he was well behind them. They spread out evenly around the circle of dragons.

"Kilgharrah roared out something in dragontongue and all the dragons rose back to a sitting position and raised their heads in unison to the sky and _roared_. I swear, Arthur, the whole place _shook_. Then they shot flames high into the sky. It was like the sun had come up! They continued that for at least a minute then the fames changed.

"They seemed to get shorter in height and turned a deep red color. I then noticed that all the dragonlords, including Balinor had placed their hands in the air and there seemed to be some sort of shimmer encircling them and the dragons. It must have been some sort of magical shield.

"The dragons then began to lower their heads as one, the fire still coming out of their mouth. For a moment I was petrified, I was afraid that the flames would reach us. But they didn't. They seemed to be stopped by the shield, or whatever it was. The dragons continued lowering their heads, the fire still shooting out, and all the flames hit Lucan's body at the same time. They must have continued for at least another minute.

"Then…then I saw gold sparks rise into the air. They hovered and formed the shape of a man, then turned into the shape of a dragon. Then it faded into nothing.

"The flames then changed from that deep red to an almost icy blue and they kept going. After another minute, they stopped altogether. The body was gone.

"After that, the dragonlords went back and stood next to their dragons. Kilgharrah stepped towards the center of the circle. Balinor met him there. Then the Great Dragon bowed deep before Balinor, accepting him has his new dragonlord."


	6. Chapter 6

**Authors Note(s):  
1\. I'm sorry about the delay. Last week was hectic to say the least. Plus my muse and I kept arguing about certain things about the story. She's a flighty little thing. We have a clear view all the way to the end…then she suddenly takes a sharp right turn and flies off in another direction. **_***sigh***_ **It is really tough reigning her in.**

 **2\. To placate both my muse and some of the reviewers I have put up a poll on my profile page to see how many want me to let Merlin hear the rest of the story. The poll will be up 3 days. Please vote!**

 **3\. Sorry this chapter is a bit short, but I wanted to get vote results before I continued on.**

Horatius took a sip of his drink and continued. "After a short while, the dragons flew off. The dragonlords decided to remain and were given quarters. There was a lot to discuss, but everyone was exhausted so we put it off until the next day. We put Balinor to bed and gave him a sleeping tonic.

"I guess I should have taken one myself. I did not sleep well that night. At one point I got up and dressed and went out for a walk along the wall. I went and looked down where the ritual had been. The ground was still glowing. I wanted to go down to it, but I figured it was still hot. I offered up my own private good-by and finally went back to bed and slept.

"The next morning I was woken early by some of the farmers. They had been down where the funeral had been the night before and were quite excited. They took me down there. The heat must have been so intense that it actually melted the ground. Where Lucan's body had been, there was a large round area that had been turned to some sort of rock, or crystal. I'm not exactly sure what it is. It was about 12 feet wide, completely flat, and had a high shine to it. I didn't get too close to it, the area was still really hot.

"I resolved to ask one of the dragonlords about it later, but the sun was getting higher and we had a lot to do. I had planned on letting Balinor sleep in, but he was up when we returned. He seemed a bit better, but not by much. Still he insisted that he work so I sent him down to thresh the grains. I figured he could work off some of his emotional state by doing something strenuous. At least it always helped me. And nothing gives satisfaction like whacking the hell out of wheat with a flail." Horatius smiled.

Arthur laughed "Or a training dummy…although throwing goblets at Merlin works as well."

Horatius looked shocked. "You throw goblets at your manservant?"

The prince shot back "Of course! Besides, it's good for him."

"WHAT!?" Horatius barked out laughing.

"It teaches him to dodge. He is out with us on patrol often. He needs to know how to get out of the way of flying objects."

"And that is the reason you throw things at him?" The old man asked dubiously.

"Of course not, I throw them because he made me angry. BUT, it had a benefit for him as well since he learned early on how to duck out of the way." The prince spread his hands apart as if saying it was the most logical reasoning in the world.

Horatius laughed heartily at the antics of the young prince. "And he never tries to get back at you?"

"Of course not. I'm the prince." Arthur huffed. Although by the way the young man scratched the back of his neck, Horatius had a feeling that the prince wasn't being quite truthful.

The old man just smiled and bent his head in deference. "Well, getting back to the story, about mid-morning, one of the men came to me and told me that the dragonlords had come for Balinor and that they were having some sort of meeting. He said that he couldn't hear what they were talking about, but there were definitely some angry words exchanged. He told me they were in the stable, so I decided to take a walk over there.

"When I walked in, Balinor was leaning up against one of the stalls with his hands folded across his chest casually observing an argument between two of the dragonlords. Apparently one was suggesting to get the dragons and go after Vortigern. The other was arguing that dragons do not get involved in the wars of man. Finally those two stopped arguing. Balinor stood up straight then and looked around at the other dragonlords and asked if anyone else had anything to add. Apparently everyone had already given their thoughts on the subject.

"Balinor cleared his throat and said that everyone was both right and wrong. That no, dragons don't get involved in the wars and politics of man. However, 'Man' had brought war to the dragons. But that the dragons were not the only ones that would be affected by any decision he made. He would therefore consult with my group, then he would consult with the dragons to see if they were even willing to get involved. THEN he would decide the final course of action.

"Well, the one that was all hell-bent on attacking had the audacity to ask Balinor if he was so eager to become a dragonlord that he didn't care that his own father was killed. Let's just say that it took all of us to pull Balinor off of him. Even so, Balinor beat him to a bloody pulp…not that the guy didn't deserve it."

Arthur held his hand out to interrupt. "Why were they deferring to Balinor to make a decision? Was it because Lucan was the one that was killed?"

"Yes, but not for the reason you probably think." The old man took a sip of wine and continued "It wasn't like they were asking him what he wanted done to avenge his father's death. As I said before, Lucan was the lead, head, master - whatever they call it - dragonlord. Balinor inherited that position upon Lucan's death. Much as you will become king when your father passes on.

"When Kilgharrah accepted Balinor as his own dragonlord, he was affirming that position.

"In most instances, a leadership position is not needed. However when there is a problem, or decisions need to be made, he is the highest authority. He can even override another dragonlord's control over a dragon."

The prince asked "But he was so young and inexperienced. Was it wise for him to be given a position with such authority?"

The old man responded "Lucan had trained him from an early age, just as your father has trained you. No, it wasn't optimal for him to be thrust into leadership so early on, especially when he was in such an emotional state….but that is the way things work out sometimes. I have to say I was exceedingly proud of him for not flying off the handle and seeking immediate revenge against Vortigern. Like I said before, on occasion, he would show vast amounts of wisdom."

"And restraint. I don't know that I would have been able to" Arthur added.

Horatius smiled sadly "You would have if you knew that it would bring about dire consequences. Balinor could sense how agitated the dragons were. You, yourself, have seen the destruction that one dragon seeking revenge can do. Now, imagine what would happen if it were fifteen."

Arthur's eyes grew wide. "It would be complete and utter destruction"

Horatius nodded "Nothing would have survived. All the buildings would be destroyed, all the people dead, guilty and innocent alike."

As Arthur and Horatius quietly contemplated how horrible such an outcome would be, the door slipped open. Merlin walked in swiftly and up to Arthur. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but the patrol is back. They got into a skirmish with bandits."

Arthur looked up fully alert. "Any injuries?"

Merlin replied "No fatalities on our side. Leon has been injured. He is being carried to Gaius now.

"How bad?" the prince asked worriedly.

"I don't know" came the reply "but I noticed blood and that he was unconscious…so I came to tell you right away"

The prince rose and started for the door. "If you will excuse me, Horatius, I need to go check on one of my men. We will continue later." Before the old man could respond, the prince was out the door.

Merlin started to turn to follow his prince, but stopped. "Would you like me to escort you back to your chambers, Lord Horatius?"

Horatius smiled at him. "No, that is quite okay. I know my way around. Perhaps I will take a walk. And what did I say about titles?"

"You are too old for them, and not to use them." Came the manservants reply.

Horatius laughed as they walked out the door. "Yet you still used it"

Merlin smiled "My apologies. My mind was elsewhere."

"That's quite okay, my boy" the old man laughed "Now go, check on your friend. I can find my way"

With that, the young manservant sprinted down the hall. The old man watched him for a moment then turned and walked the other way.


	7. Chapter 7

**Authors Note:**

 **Oh my gosh! This is sooo NOT MY FAULT! My Muse hijacked my body...or at least my fingers... and went to town. 5,543 words, not counting the A/N**  
 **This was just supposed to be a short filler chapter while I figured out how to integrate Merlin into the story. (Yeah, the "Merlin Deserves to Know" camp won out)**  
 **Sometimes, I just hate my muse. My fingers are tired.**

 **BTW, this chapter is a break from "The Story"**

* * *

Arthur rushed through the castle and up the steps leading to the physician's chamber. He was about to slam open the door, then thought better of it. What if Gaius were stitching up Leon, or measuring exact amounts of potions, he wouldn't want to startle him. He slowly pushed open the door to find a beehive of activity. He entered, closing the door behind him. Arthur took in the sight before him. Gaius was pouring up a potion while Guinevere was sponging blood off Leon's face. Gwaine was cutting off the unconscious knight's shirt and Percival was stoking the fire. The door opened behind him and he turned to see Lancelot and Elyan bringing in pots of water then pouring them into the large kettle over the fire.

Gaius turned around and looked at Arthur, then on past him then around the room. "Where's Merlin?"

Arthur turned around expecting Merlin to be behind him. Then he remembered he left him back in the room with Horatius. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the door crashing open and Merlin running in. The boy slid to a stop just before running into the prince.

Merlin held his arm around his ribs as if he had a stitch in his side and winced out a "Sorry, I had to see to Horatius".

"I need you over here Merlin" Gaius said without anger, but stopping any further excuse coming off Merlin's lips. "Guinevere could you see to the young lady?"

Arthur frowned. Young lady? What young lady? He watched Guinevere get up and walk over to a young woman sitting quietly in a chair against the far wall, back away from where all the action was occurring. He had totally missed seeing her when he came in.

The girl had her head down and appeared frightened. Guinevere, knelt down and looked up at the girl, talking to her in hushed tones. The young woman raised her head to speak to Gwen. Arthur could see that her face was badly bruised and her light brown hair was mussed up, with a leaf or twig sticking out here and there. Her clothing disheveled with rips in various places and smudges of dirt or mud from where she apparently fallen or had been pushed down.

Arthur wanted answers. Unfortunately any who could answer them were currently busy, except for the girl. In her current state, however, he didn't think she would be of much help. He turned and watched Merlin. Merlin was sitting on a high stool bent over Leon. He was using a small metal tool in one hand that was holding the skin and muscles open and some sort of small tongs in the other hand _digging inside_ Leon's shoulder. Arthur had to turn his head away and swallow hard to keep bile from rising in his throat.

Gwaine, having finished his job, got out of Gaius' way and walked up to Arthur. The knight had blood covering his chainmail. Arthur wasn't sure if he was hurt, or if the blood belonged to Leon.

"Are you injured? Or is all of that Leon's blood?" The prince asked, indicating the blood covering most Gwaine's tunic and chainmail.

"No, I'm fine, this all belongs to Leon" the Knight replied.

"What happened?" Arthur asked, finally glad to get some answers.

Gwaine's response was cut off by Merlin barking out a rather crude expletive. One that would have garnered him a slap up against the back of the head by his mentor in any other circumstance. As it was, the only thing the elderly physician did was rush up to his side.

Merlin looked up at Gaius. "I've sutured the cuts in his vein, that part is take care of. But there are pieces of metal imbedded where the blade broke off. I've gotten a fair few out, but these others are crumbling into dust when I touch them. The blade must have been rusted."

His mentor looked over his shoulder into the wound and hummed in agreement.

"And see here, and here" the boy continued using a new pick type instrument as a pointer "infection has already started setting up. Not only that, what if any of that rust got into his vein before I closed it?….." Merlin trailed off shaking his head uncertainly.

Gaius patted Merlin on the shoulder. "You are doing fine, my boy. Get as much out as you can." The physician had a contemplative look on his face. He walked over to the shelves and grabbed a couple of bottles, a vial that held blue liquid, and a several containers of herbs, and took them to a small desk. He called Gwen over and asked her to crush the herbs. He then brought the bottles of what Arthur now recognized as alcohol over to the table where Leon was lying.

Merlin looked up at him. "I've gotten out as much as I can"

"Good." The physician nodded. "We are going to do a couple of things here. We are going to irrigate out the wound, first with water, then with alcohol." All the knights winced at the thought of the latter part. Gaius then turned to Merlin. "We are then going to pack it with that salve that the _druid_ healer showed you". Arthur saw Merlin's eyebrows shoot up, then the man quickly schooled his expression. "Lastly, we will loosely stitch him up. I don't want it done too tightly until we are sure we won't have to go back in."

Merlin shot a quick glance around the room then focused back on Gaius. He worked his mouth for a moment or two, but no words came out. The physician and his ward just stared at each other for a few moments, emotions playing on each face as if they were debating a topic. Finally Gaius sighed. "It is necessary, Merlin. You were right. The infection is much further along than it should be. I believe it is due to the rust. If we can't get it all out, it could easily become fatal. So we are going to have to neutralize it with the salve."

Merlin gave the old man a short curt nod. The physician handed him the vial. "Go on up to your room where it is quiet and modify the potion." The physician said pointedly.

His ward started to rise from the stool and winced. It was not lost on the physician or the prince who glanced at each other in confusion. Merlin just smiled at them through gritted teeth and turned to go up to his room with his elbow clenched against his ribs.

The two men watched him as he disappeared behind the closed door. The 'catch' that Arthur thought the boy had earlier might have been an injury instead. However he focused on another question. "Why does he need to do that in his room?" He asked the court physician.

"We have delicate herbs which we store in Merlin's room. They can't be stored near other herbs as they can become corrupted and ineffective if even a small amount of dust from some of the other herbs get into them" the old man lied effortlessly.

A minute or two later Merlin came back out of the room holding the vial of green liquid which seemed to be steaming. Arthur started for a moment. _Green?_ It was blue when he took it up to his room, and it definitely hadn't been hot enough to be steaming. Gaius caught the prince's confused expression and hastened to answer. "The new herbs cause a reaction that heats and changes the color of the potion."

The physician then called most of the knights over. "This is going to be painful. Even if he is unconscious, his body might react. Percival, I want you and Gwaine to hold his legs down. In addition, Gwaine, I want you to keep the lower part of this arm immobilized. Elyan, I want you to hold down the other arm from shoulder to wrist. Lancelot, give Merlin any help he needs with mixing the salve. And Arthur, it is imperative that you keep Leon's head steady. His head injury is more severe than the shoulder injury, but we have to handle the shoulder first. So, just keep his head as still as you can."

"Gwen? Are you finished with the herbs?" At her affirmative nod, Gaius continued "very well, go back to tending the young lady."

Gwen walked back over to the young woman and was speaking in low reassuring tones. The girl, however was staring almost awestruck at Merlin. Arthur had to smirk if even for just a moment. It seemed his manservant had an admirer.

The knights and prince clamped down on Leon as Gaius used waterskin with a strange type of small spout on it. It made the water come out with more pressure as it washed out the injury. Arthur watched for a moment as blood…and _stuff_ …came out of the hole in his knight. He wasn't a squeamish man, still, bile wanted to rise in his throat. He distracted himself by looking over at Merlin as he prepared the salve.

Lancelot was handing the herbs to Merlin as he asked for them. The prince saw his manservant give a furtive glance around the room, then say something to Lancelot. Lancelot stepped back and all but blocked the view from everyone in the room. Arthur, however, from his vantage point could still see Merlin's profile. Merlin had started stirring the salve quickly and was muttering something but Arthur couldn't make out what he was saying.

Arthur was abruptly brought back to his task as Leon's body lurched. The unconscious knight's torso arched up as Gaius used another waterskin with alcohol to rinse out the wound. Arthur, was having a hard time keeping Leon from moving his head. He finally placed his forearm over the knight's head to hold it steady and used his other hand to hold him down at the top of his shoulder near the neck.

He noticed that the other knights were also having a problem holding Leon down. Finally Gaius finished washing out the injury and Leon's body relaxed back on the table. The knights relaxed their grips and stood back.

Gaius called for Merlin. Merlin walked over still stirring the salve and set it down next to Leon. The physician then used the remainder of the alcohol to pour over Merlin's hands. Merlin rubbed his hands together as if he were washing them, then dried them off on a towel. He picked up the salve again bent over Leon and started packing the wound with the salve using his fingers.

Arthur turned to Gwaine while Merlin treated Leon. "Ok, so what happened?"

"Well," the roughish looking knight began, "We were coming back from patrol and quite literally came across a group of bandits attacking Merlin and that young lady over there."

"Merlin?" The prince exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, apparently he was out picking flowers" the knight paused then corrected himself "I mean herbs, and heard the girl yelling for help and went to investigate. By the time we got there, Merlin was facing down five of them, keeping himself between the bandits and the girl. There were a few more dead or unconscious bandits on the ground.

"When we arrived, Merlin pulled the girl to safety and let us take over the fighting. They weren't very skilled, so it wasn't a hard fight. But apparently one came up on Leon unawares. I heard Merlin yell and saw Leon turn and the guy got him with is sword. Leon lost his footing and fell down a small escarpment and hit his head."

"Do you know why they were attacking the girl? And, how did the others die?" The prince inquired.

Gwaine looked hard at the prince. "Well, I can't be absolutely positive of their motives, but, even bruised up you can tell that she isn't unattractive." The prince and knight shared a knowing look.

"As for how the other's died, the girl said that a couple of them were fighting each other. I am presuming they were fighting over who would get the first go at her." The knight paused for a moment. "I do know that Merlin took out at least one of them"

"How?" The prince asked, surprised.

"Throwing knife. After the fight I saw Merlin walk up and pull it out of one of the bandits. He wiped it off and sheathed it in a scabbard on his belt. So it was definitely his."

"No way, he is absolutely rubbish at fighting." The prince quietly scoffed. "Maybe the bandits took it off of him."

"That is always a possibility" The knight agreed, "But I don't think so. He seemed too familiar with it. He even flipped it before he sheathed it." The knight thought for a moment. "He is totally rubbish at a sword and hand to hand. But he isn't half bad with a longbow. Have you checked him out on knives?"

"No, I never even thought to." The prince admitted, "But knives are so…personal. I mean swords are too, but a knife or dagger, even more so. Merlin is so meek, I can't even imagine him with one."

Gwaine huffed out a silent laugh. "As much as you would like to disagree, Princess, Merlin is _not_ a girl. A man has to do what a man has to do to defend himself."

Their discussion was interrupted by the old physician walking up. Arthur looked over Gaius' shoulder and saw Merlin sewing up the cut on Leon's shoulder.

"Well, Gaius, how bad is it?" The price asked worriedly.

"I _think_ he will be okay." The physician responded. "The salve should work wonders on Leon's shoulder. It is actually his head injury I am worried about. He is definitely concussed, and rather severely too. There is swelling, but not so much as to suspect that there is any significant bleeding inside his brain. But I will have to watch it closely."

"And his shoulder?" The prince asked.

"Like I said, the salve should help greatly. However, it is lucky that it is not his sword arm. The muscles were cut rather severely. It may take a while for them to recover. They may never recover completely, but only time will tell. The salve has remarkable properties, so he may yet fully recover. We were very lucky to come across it."

Arthur stepped closer to Gaius and lowered his voice. "Yes, the salve. Um, you said you got it from the druids. It doesn't have any um…" Arthur glanced around furtively and bent closer to Gaius and all but whispered " _magical_ properties does it?"

The prince backed up to see the physician's eyebrow slowly rising. Gaius let his eyebrow raise to its fullest height before responding. "Sire…. _Merlin_ is the one who mixed up the salve." As if that answered everything.

In spite of himself, Arthur barked out a laugh, then quickly slapped his hand over his mouth. After a moment he lowered his hand and still amused said. "I see what you mean. Sorry for the stupid question."

Gaius clapped him on the shoulder fondly "The only stupid questions are those that go unasked, my boy".

Arthur smiled and felt warm inside. It has been years since the old physician referred to him as 'My Boy'. He missed it.

The prince and physician watched as Merlin got up from tending Leon and carried the salve and a few vials over to the cupboard. He sat them on a counter and began putting them away. He reached up to place a vial up on an upper shelf and stopped suddenly mid-reach. He stood there like that for a moment, but even from behind they could see him shudder. He slowly lowered his arm and placed the vial back on the counter.

The physician hummed in disapproval. "Merlin, come here for a second." Merlin turned towards them and walked up, raising his eyebrows in question.

"Let's see your injury" The old physician ordered.

"What injury?" the young man asked innocently.

The prince crossed his arms. "The one that you didn't tell anyone about. The one you are trying to hide."

The warlock chuckled. "It's nothing. Leon is the one who needs help."

"Leon's been sorted now. So let Gaius have a look at you." The prince ordered.

"This is stupid. It's _nothing._ Just some slight soreness, that is all."

Gwaine had been talking to Lancelot and Percival when he heard Merlin arguing with Arthur. _Merlin hurt?_ He walked over, stood next to Arthur and looked Merlin over. "You okay, mate?" The other knights came closer as well.

Merlin nearly growled "I. Am. Fine."

Gwaine crossed his arms in an eerie imitation of Arthur. He smiled at merlin in a way that wasn't exactly showing amusement. "You see mate, here's the deal. The more and louder you claim that you are 'fine', the more I suspect that you are anything but."

Arthur grunted and nodded his head in agreement.

Gwaine continued "So why don't you just prove me wrong and show Gaius your minor injury"

Merlin huffed out large sigh which turned into a wince. He looked around for an ally, resting his eyes on Lancelot. Lancelot only gave him his ' _they're going to keep harassing you until you show them, so you might as well do it_ ' shrug.

Merlin grumbled "This is stupid", but slowly raised his tunic to where it only covered the top of his chest.

The knights winced as they saw the red swelling and some purple bruising already starting to spread around his ribs on both sides of his body.

Gaius tutted and pulled out a chair. "Come here and sit, my boy. Let me have a good look at those bruises." Merlin slowly walked over and sat with his head lowered so he wouldn't have to look at anyone.

As the physician poked and prodded on Merlin's ribs, Arthur started asking questions. "How did it happen? What did that to you?"

"Boots, mostly" his manservant tried to joke weakly as he looked up at his prince. However he couldn't hide the blush of embarrassment that covered his face.

"Why didn't you say anything?" the prince asked softly. Merlin growled. Arthur wasn't sure if it was because of the exam or because of the question.

Merlin finally spoke. "Arthur, you have a critically injured _KNIGHT_ that needed immediate help. Not _this_ " the boy gestured up and down indicating his ribs " _This_ is nothing. _This_ will heal in a few days. _This_ is not important."

Arthur looked at his manservant dumbfounded. Was Merlin really saying ' _this_ is not important'? Or was he saying ' _I_ am not important'? He was saved from having to respond when Gaius stood up and cleared his throat. Arthur was thankful, because he truly did not know what to say.

"I believe two of the ribs are probably cracked. The rest are severely bruised. The outer bruising will spread over the next day or so." The physician looked down at Merlin. "It will need to be wrapped".

Merlin nodded his head and let the tunic fall. He slowly stood up and started walking towards his room. Gaius walked over to the cupboard and grabbed some ointment and bandages. "Lancelot, could you help Merlin?"

"I'd be happy to, Gaius." The kind knight took the bandages and ointment from the physician and followed Merlin up to his room.

Gaius turned around to the other knights. "Well, everything seems to be in order now. I am sure you all have things to do, so off you go."

The knights grumbled as they left the room, but Gaius assured them that he would send word should there be any change. Gwen walked up and introduced the young woman. "Sabine, this is our court physician, Gaius."

Gaius nodded to the young woman. "I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to look you over properly. Would you like…"

The girl cut him off. "I am fine. Gwen, here, put some type of ointment on my bruises. They hardly hurt at all."

Gwen got the woman's attention again. "And this is Prince Arthur. He is the Crown Prince of Camelot."

The woman awkwardly curtsied. "It is a pleasure, Your Highness. Your knights are so brave! Had they not come….had that young man not come…" She paused to gather her composure "Those men, they would have done terrible things."

Arthur smiled down at her. "I'm just glad that my knights were able to be of assistance. I am rather shocked that bandits were so close to the city. I can assure you we will double our patrols."

Sabine smiled. "Thank you, Your Highness. I just feel so terrible that they were hurt because of me. I feel like it is all my fault". She glanced at Leon, then to the door that Merlin and Lancelot had disappeared into earlier.

Arthur and Gwen exchanged smiles when they saw her gaze linger on Merlin's door. Gwen finally cleared her throat and brought the attention back to herself. "If it is alright, I am going to take Sabine to get some food and find her a room. She was originally on her way to Camelot sell items at market. But her horse got spooked and bolted when the bandits attacked."

Arthur frowned "I'm sorry to hear that. Do you live in a nearby village? We can send word. I don't want your family to worry"

The young lady looked at the floor. "I have no family. My father is long dead, and my mother and brother died a year and a half ago when raiders attacked our small hamlet. After that I traveled. I have now come to Camelot looking for an apprenticeship…or a job if I cannot be apprenticed to someone."

Arthur looked at Gwen. "Guinevere, check with the steward to see what positions are available. Perhaps he can find Sabine the apprenticeship she is looking for."

Gwen beamed up at him and curtsied. "Yes, Sire." She then took the young lady's arm and guided them out of the room.

Arthur smiled after them until they left. He then turned around in stared pointedly at the physician.

"Is there something else you need Sire?" Gaius questioned.

"Yes, you can explain Merlin to me." The prince huffed.

"Sire?" The physician asked, confused.

"His behavior. Why didn't he want anyone to know he was injured? He has done this before, I have seen him hiding injuries. I want to know why he does it!"

"Ah, I see" was the physician's response. "I think possibly you should discuss that with Merlin himself, Sire"

"You know that will do no good." The prince growled out. "When it comes to something he doesn't want to talk about he is slipperier than a greased pig. I'll ask a question and before you know it we are talking about unicorns and dandelions!"

The physician laughed but Arthur continued. "No. I'm serious! One time I asked a question we ended up talking about unicorns and dandelions!" The prince threw his hands up in the air and shook his head in exasperation. "And I don't even know _when_ or _how_ he redirected the conversation!"

This made the physician laugh even harder, but he soon calmed himself. He looked at Leon to make sure he was still unconscious then looked up to his ward's door with a contemplative expression on his face. He motioned the prince to come to a small table that was furthest from the boy's room.

"I can only hypothesize Sire" Gaius said in a hushed voice so as not to be overheard. "Merlin's mother said that he would often hide certain types of injuries from her."

"What types?" The prince wanted to know.

Gaius sighed, "Types that came from the hand of another. You see, Arthur, Merlin had a rather hard childhood. He was the object of much ridicule and scorn. He had few friends, save for his friend Will. Many of the children picked on him and _beat_ on him. They would gang up to beat on him."

"I don't understand" Arthur looked mortified "Merlin is one of the nicest – if not _the_ nicest – person I know. Why would they do that?"

"Arthur, you know that Merlin grew up without a father, correct?"

"Yes, he told me he had never known him" The prince replied.

"Well, he did actually meet him once a couple of years ago. But his father died within days of their meeting. His father never knew he had a son until then."

Arthur was shocked. First, that Merlin had not told him. Secondly, well, he just couldn't imagine Hunith as the type of woman who would not tell a man about his child. He had figured that the man had just run off and left them.

Gaius picked up on his misgivings. "Merlin's father was on the run. He had apparently made someone who was extremely powerful angry. When news came that they were coming there to look for him, he left. He didn't want Hunith to have to live a life on the run. Neither knew at the time that she was carrying his child.

"As you are probably aware, when it comes to small villages, such children are considered the absolute bottom of their society. Even slaves have a higher ranking. They are spat upon and made to do the hardest and most demeaning jobs. They are the first to be denied food when the crops go bad. When it would get so bad that food had to be rationed, they would only give enough grain for Hunith, and none for Merlin. Hunith would split her ration with him. At feasts, he would be the last to be served and by that time, it was only good for slop.

"Then there was the bullying. Merlin was always a gangly boy. That made him a prime victim for beatings. The sad thing was that he _could_ defend himself. Unfortunately, he gave the wrong boy a black eye once. When that happened, the boy's parents took it out on Hunith. After that, Merlin never fought back.

"He knew his mother would be upset every time he would come home beaten and bruised, so I believe he learned to hide it. It broke his heart to see his mother cry. He is very protective of those he loves. I believe the behavior he learned then is what makes him hide injuries now."

Arthur was angry. Very Angry. He wanted to deny Gaius' words. After all, how could someone be so kind and compassionate after being treated so badly as a child? How could someone be as outspoken as Merlin when the treatment he received should make him afraid of people?

"But when we went to Ealdor, the people didn't seem to mistreat him then…" the prince said, grasping at straws to make what Gaius said false.

"Sire, he was in the company of the crown prince of Camelot." Gaius pointed out "Do you really think they would mistreat him under such circumstances?"

Arthur had to agree. And thinking back on it, Merlin had tended to stay with their group. The only person he spoke to other than his mother was his friend Will.

Arthur sighed and looked at the old physician. "So how do we break this….habit?"

The old man just shook his head. "I don't know, Sire. I wish I did, but I don't"

Gaius stood up and walked over to Leon to check on the injured knight. Arthur also stood, but just leaned back on the table with his arms and legs crossed. The door to the upper bedroom opened and Lancelot and Merlin emerged.

Merlin limped down the stairs. "I think it is too tight, Lancelot. I feel like a woman all trussed up in one of those ridiculous dresses that they wear at feasts. How do they even sit down?"

"It has to be tight Merlin, you know that" The amused knight shot back.

Gaius walked over and indicated for Merlin to raise his tunic. The young man complied without argument this time. The physician looked closely and tugged at the bandages, then nodded his approval. "Good job Lancelot. Stop complaining Merlin, he did it correctly."

"It still hurts" Merlin whined.

"Didn't you just say a little while ago that it was 'nothing'?" The prince drawled.

Merlin gave him a dirty look…and was that an obscene gesture he made behind his back? Lancelot laughed and patted the manservant lightly on his shoulder. "I've got to go Merlin. I'll come check back on you later." He walked towards the door and stopped next to Arthur. "If you want me to stay with them tonight and help Gaius out, let me know."

Arthur smiled at the knight. "I'll see how things are going this evening and let you know. Thank you."

Lancelot left, closing the door behind him. The prince leaned back on the table again crossing his arms and looked his manservant up and down. "So, are you feeling up to a little work? Or do you need to go lie down and rest your dainty, trussed up body?"

Merlin sputtered indignantly. Before he could say anything, Gaius interrupted. "Sire, I would recommend for him to rest. He isn't up to any heavy lifting."

"Don't worry, I don't have anything strenuous planned. Do you think he will be able to walk if he rests every so often?"

"He should be able to" the physician regarded him suspiciously.

"Good!" The prince stood up straight and clapped his hands together. "Let's get going then shall we?"

Gaius went to the cupboard and pulled out three vials. "Hold on a second, Sire." He handed the vials to Merlin. "Take two now, and then one for later if you need it. They are for pain." He then turned to the prince. "Don't let him near anything too dangerous, the medicine could make him slightly unsteady."

The prince nodded his head in understanding. "I'll keep an eye on him"

Merlin gulped down the two nasty tasting potions and drank a cup of water to wash down the taste. He pocketed the last potion. Arthur opened the door and ushered the grumbling manservant out.

They got to the bottom of the stairs near Gaius' chambers. Merlin turned and looked at his prince. "What is this about Arthur?"

"Well, I thought we would have a little talk" the prince replied calmly. But the predatory smile on the prince's face made Merlin uneasy.

"Really? About what? We couldn't have talked up in my room?" Merlin asked as he leaned up against the wall to rest for a moment. The pain medicine hadn't kicked in all the way yet, so he was still a bit sore.

Arthur watched Merlin as he rested against the wall. His manservant was leaning in such a way that it brought his tunic taut across the front of his body. He could clearly make out the outline of bandaging around his ribs and lower, a very noticeable outline of a knife scabbard at his hip.

Arthur stepped closer to Merlin about to demand that the boy explain why he never told Arthur that he could use a knife. But he stopped himself. He looked hard at his manservant. Merlin apparently had picked up on his mood and was looking downright skittish, especially in such close quarters. The uncomfortable question came unbidden to Arthur's mind wondering if this was the look Merlin had on his face when the boys in Ealdor would gang up on him.

Arthur took a step back. Then another. He looked down at the ground and took a cleansing breath to calm himself. He looked back up at Merlin who was still watching him warily, but not quite as frightened looking. Arthur let out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair.

"On second thought, I think we will put it off for right now. It has been a long day." Arthur looked up at the darkening sky. "Come on, it is getting to be past dinner time. Do you remember where Horatius went to this afternoon?"

"He said he was going to go for a walk, but that was some time ago" The manservant replied quietly, still uncertain as to the cause of the prince's changing moods.

"Well, let's go find him" The prince spoke out more cheerfully as he gently pulled on Merlin's arm to follow.

"What is it about Horatius that has you so enthralled" Merlin asked as he sped up to walk beside his prince.

"He is a great storyteller" Arthur smiled.

Merlin laughed, "I never knew you would get excited by bedtime stories… _Sire_ "

"Not bedtime stories, you idiot. He has been telling me about the time just before my father became king. More specifically, he has been telling me a story about a specific man" the prince said mysteriously.

"Who?" Merlin asked, playing along. Whatever would put Arthur in a better mood, Merlin was more than willing to go along with.

The Prince turned around and had a huge grin on his face. "Balinor."


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:  
This chapter is dedicated to my beloved19 year old cat, Q-Tip. He passed away a couple of days ago. As a final goodbye, I have allowed him to pad across some pages of my story as sort of an inconsequential walk-on character. I hope you don't mind.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Edited to add:  
I would LOVE reviews. I have had a few about the cat, but what I am really wondering about is the Merlin freak-out section at the beginning. Could some people maybe review on that. Of course I love to hear about the whole chapter as well. And...who knows...maybe Arthur's "Beautiful blue eyes" might become a running gag.**

* * *

Merlin froze.

He was numb, his brain was numb. His body was numb. He couldn't move.

Balinor.

He knew that his eyes had gotten wide and his mouth had dropped open. He couldn't help it. He couldn't stop it. He couldn't move. His brain was all fuzzy. But no, he could see things. He saw Arthur standing there with a big smile on his face. He saw the smile slowly fall from his friends face. He saw it replaced with a frown, then concern. But at the same time as he was seeing Arthur, he was also seeing Balinor in his mind's eye. He saw him smiling. He saw him dying.

His ears were buzzing. He could see Arthur saying his name, but he couldn't hear him.

His mind was slow. But no, it wasn't. Behind the fuzziness, behind the ringing in his ears, behind his body being sluggish and heavy….he could hear himself thinking.

" _No, no, no. Arthur knows!_

" _No he doesn't. He can't. It must be something else._

" _Why did he say Balinor?_

" _Calm Down! Arthur is going to suspect something if you don't calm down!_

" _Does he know about Balinor?_

" _School your expression, Idiot! Arthur is going to know something is wrong!_

" _Think, think, think! Think of something to say._

" _Come up with an excuse, FAST!_

" _Balinor, Balinor….Father_

" _Oh gods, I'm not breathing_

" _Oh gods, I'm breathing too fast!_

" _CALM DOWN MERLIN!"_

Merlin blinked. He blinked again. Arthur was now standing right in front of him with a hand on each of his shoulders.

"Merlin?" Arthur asked, concern evident in his voice

Merlin shook his head as if clearing it. Sluggishly he said "Sorry. Um, the medicine. It must be affecting me. Can I sit down for a second?" In his mind thinking _'good, he'll buy that'_

Arthur looked around. There was a stone bench not far from the well. He let go of Merlin's shoulder and grasped Merlin by the arm and walked him over to it. Merlin was a bit unsteady and walked slowly. After Merlin sat, Arthur noticed that his manservant was paler than usual, and his hands were shaking. "I'll get you some water" he told him and started walking to the well.

As he walked, Arthur's mind was turning in circles. He doubted Merlin's reaction had anything to do with the medicine. But why would the old Dragonlord's name elicit such a response from Merlin? For Avalon's sake, the boy looked like he was about to wet himself.

He knew Merlin got somewhat edgy when Balinor was spoken of. Not that the man was spoken of often, it had been months, if not years. Still, that had been part of the reason that he had not mentioned Balinor's name the other day when Merlin asked. He regretted having mentioned it now.

Arthur arrived at the well and picked up a communal bucket and ladle. He worked the hand pump a couple of times to get a bit of water in the bucket and turned to head back to Merlin. He suddenly noticed that a few people were looking at him oddly.

Oh.

 _He_ was getting water from a well. For a servant no less. He glanced at his gawkers and rose an eyebrow in challenge. They quickly turned and found something else to occupy their attention. He smirked, then turned and headed back towards his manservant.

He knew why he had mentioned Balinor. Even though he would get on edge, Merlin had seemed to admire the man. There seemed to be some invisible string that attached the two. Arthur guessed that Merlin felt beholden to the man for having saved his life. He would probably want to know everything he could about the all-but-stranger who gave his life for him. Arthur could understand that.

He arrived back at his manservant. Merlin was still breathing rather quickly, but seemed as if he had otherwise recovered from the panic attack. Arthur put down the bucket and handed Merlin the ladle.

Merlin took a long drink from the ladle, then drew more water from the bucket and drank some more. It seemed to have a calming effect on him.

"So…" Merlin said after dropping the ladle in the bucket for the last time "…did you say Balinor? The dragonlord?"

Arthur could tell that Merlin had raised his mask once again. He wouldn't get any answers if he questioned him now. "Yes. Apparently Horatius knew him as a young man"

"Really?" There was almost a longing sound in Merlin's voice.

"Yes!" The prince said as he helped Merlin to his feet. "And like I said, Horatius is good at telling a story. I just thought you might be interested in listening. You aren't going to be able to do any work as it is."

"Yeah, I think I would like that." The manservant said quietly.

The two young men walked around for 30 minutes looking for the goldsmith when they were told by a servant that Horatius had just been seen going back to his quarters. Arthur asked the servant if he knew whether Horatius had eaten, but the servant was unsure. He then told the servant to go to the kitchen have a light dinner for three brought to his chambers as well as wine. The servant looked confused.

Merlin butted in. "I'll do it, Sire. Hendry doesn't know his way around the kitchens. Not to mention that the cook can be….intimidating." Merlin grimaced at the thought of irritating her, but added "Besides, that is my job."

"And you've been told not to lift anything heavy." The prince retorted.

"I'll have them send someone up with the food then" The manservant shot back.

The prince finally agreed and the two went their separate ways.

Arthur knocked on Horatius' door and was bade to enter. Horatius was sitting at his desk going over some sort of paperwork. He raised and bowed when he saw who his guest was. "How is your knight? I hope his injuries aren't too severe."

"They are severe, but he should recover, and hopefully without disability" The prince answered back.

"That is good. About the recovery, that is." Horatius clarified.

"Have you had dinner? I was just about to have a light dinner myself." The prince asked

"No, I haven't eaten yet, but I don't want to monopolize your time…which it seems I have been doing lately." The goldsmith replied.

Arthur laughed. "I don't consider it monopolizing. I've rather enjoyed it. Actually, I was wondering if it would be alright to ask Merlin to join us. He seemed to admire Balinor the couple of days we knew him, and I think he would really like to hear the story." The prince paused for a moment, thinking, then continued "We just have to be careful not to mention the ring."

The old man thought for a second then smiled brightly. "I think that will be a wonderful idea. However, I will have to mention the ring at some point in the story. We will just have to hide the fact that we are still in possession of it. I'll just say it was 'lost' years ago. He would want to see it otherwise, and that would ruin your surprise."

* * *

When Arthur and Horatius entered Arthur's antechamber, Merlin was clearing away the dishes from earlier. He had them loaded them on a tray and lifted them with an audible grunt. He carried them over to a side table and set them down, again with an audible grunt. Arthur cleared his throat. Merlin turned around and smiled. "The food will be up shortly. I'm just picking up a little."

Arthur gave Merlin a pointed stare. "You aren't supposed to be lifting things. I do _not_ want to be the one to tell Gaius that you have injured yourself again".

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Arthur, it is only a few dishes on a tray, for crying out loud"

"You've been hurt?" Horatius interjected.

"Yes, it seems my manservant here was somehow involved with the bandit attack and ended up with a few cracked ribs." The prince stated as he crossed his arms and looked at his manservant.

Merlin huffed looking at Horatius and stated in a tone like he was reading off a list. "I had gone to gather herbs. I heard a girl yell. I ran to see what was going on. The girl was being attacked by bandits. I interfered. They weren't happy. That pretty much sums it up." He paused, then added as an afterthought "The knights showed up a short time later and took care of the bandits and rescued us."

Arthur just stared at Merlin. The boy hadn't mentioned killing one of the bandits. He apparently didn't know that Arthur knew. Arthur was getting angry again. He didn't like people trying to keep things from him. Well, this time he was going to get Merlin to admit it to him.

Reminding himself that they company, Arthur smiled at Merlin. "And what of the one you killed?"

Merlin stared at Arthur, mouth agape. Apparently Arthur had found out about the one that he had used the knife on. At least Arthur had only said 'one'. He looked at Arthur, gritted his teeth and said "And I was lucky enough to stop one of them by throwing a knife at him. Happy now?"

Arthur smiled. "Very." After a moment he added "I don't see why you didn't say anything. Otherwise the knights will get the credit for the kill."

Merlin sputtered for a moment then his fist balled at his side as he spoke softly "You know Arthur, I don't particularly like having to kill people. Sometimes there isn't a choice. But I sure as _hell_ am not going to _brag_ about it." He had kept his voice low, but the anger that dripped off each word was evident.

Horatius looked between the two wondering if he should intervene. He decided to keep quiet and let the two work out the issue on their own.

Arthur sighed and scratched the back of his head. "No Merlin. I wouldn't want you to brag. It wouldn't be in you to do so. But I do need to know what is going on. Hell, I didn't even know you were involved until Gwaine said that you were there. You could have been killed."

"Yes Sire, I realize how inconvenient it would have been for you had I not been around to clear your dishes tonight." The manservant said deadpan.

"Too right you are." The prince said with a smirk.

Arthur had started to say something else when they were interrupted by a knock at the door. Merlin walked to the door and opened it. A couple of servants entered with trays of food and set them on the table. Merlin told them to gather the tray from earlier and return it to the kitchen. After the servants had left, Merlin set the table for Arthur and Horatius. He had put his own bowl to the side. As the two men sat, Merlin ladled meaty stew into bowls and placed plates of bread, fruit and cheese near the men. He poured wine for the two, then filled his own bowl with broth from the stew and grabbed a small piece of bread. He retreated to someplace behind Arthur shoulder.

Arthur smiled. Merlin could be a pain, but when there was guest around, he attempted to be a proper servant. He also figured that Merlin was embarrassed by his little outburst and didn't want the conversation to continue. The best way to do that would to be out of Arthur's line of sight. Arthur sighed. They would continue the conversation. But at some later date. Trying to figure out what made his manservant tick usually gave him a headache, which was why he usually avoided it. He would just put it down to being 'Merlinistic idiosyncrasies.' But lately, too many things just didn't add up. He _would_ get to the bottom of it. Tonight, however, they would just relax and enjoy the company of the goldsmith.

Arthur cleared his throat. "Merlin, not over there. Come have a seat." He turned around in his seat to look at his manservant. As he expected, Merlin had an utterly confused expression on his face.

Merlin looked at Arthur, then to Horatius, then back to Arthur. He tilted his head and quirked his eyebrow in a way that Arthur understood as 'Are you sure?' Arthur gave him a quick nod then added "If Horatius is going to regale us with a story, I don't want him injuring himself by craning his neck to look at your idiotic face."

Merlin huffed at the insult, but grabbed his bowl and plate and sat down across from Horatius. He smiled tentatively at the old man, who in turn beamed him a reassuring smile.

Arthur reached over to the tray and grabbed the last goblet, filled it with wine and pushed it at Merlin.

Merlin picked it hesitantly and took a sip. "I'm not sure I should have this."

The prince smirked, "You can have a drink with the knights, but can't share one with your prince?"

Of course, Arthur knew that wasn't the case. He had been to taverns with Merlin in the past. But he still liked to give the boy a hard time.

"It isn't that, Sire. I don't know if it will interact with the medicine Gaius gave me earlier." Merlin explained, more for Horatius' benefit than Arthur's.

"It should be fine" the prince answered back. "It is just dinner wine, _Mer_ lin. You know it is weaker than what we serve after. Besides, I have had those pain tonics that Gaius makes. I do fine with a glass or two."

Merlin grumbled quietly "I don't have your body mass"

"Did you just call me fat?" The prince demanded looking slightly irritated.

"Not at all, Sire! You have considerably more…muscles…than I do. It means you can hold your drink better than someone, such as myself, who has a much slighter frame."

"It is called 'skinny', _Mer_ lin. Twig skinny" The prince shot back with a smirk.

Across the table, Horatius attempted to hide his amusement behind his goblet, but his shaking shoulders gave him away.

The three men settled down to eating. About half way through Merlin looked at Horatius. "Arthur tells me that you knew Balinor?" He meant it as a statement, but it came out as a question.

"That I did, my boy. That I did" The old man said before taking another bite of his stew.

The goldsmith asked the prince if it was ok to go back over parts of the story that he had already told him, albeit abbreviated. Arthur agreed, and sat back and enjoyed the story once again. He also watched Merlin as he listened. He smiled. Merlin looked like a little boy drinking in all the parts of a fairy tale.

At one point, Merlin interrupted "So Lucan was Balinor's father?" The old man nodded and smiled. Merlin himself nodded and looked as though he was trying to commit it to memory.

Horatius came to the part about the dragonlord funeral. Merlin was so transfixed on the story he held a piece of bread about halfway between the bowl and his mouth, completely forgotten.

Arthur watched his manservant throughout the story. He saw emotions flit across his manservant's face that he had never seen before. Some of which, he could not put a name to. Merlin seemed to lap up the story like a kitten to milk.

By the time they finished dinner, Horatius had brought them up even to where he had stopped earlier in the day. Merlin, of course, had questions. Arthur was slightly surprised that they were completely different than the ones he had asked. Merlin had been amused, for some reason, that Lucan and Uther – and by extension Arthur and Balinor – were related, albeit distantly. Most of Merlin's question's had been about the Dragonlord hierarchy.

"Yes, Balinor inherited his position very similar to how a prince inherits the crown. If Balinor were to have a son, his son would have inherited not only his power as a dragonlord, but also his position of being in charge of dragonlords. Or, well, dragonlords in his group." The old man explained. His eyes flitting over to Merlin more than a few times. Arthur, however, didn't notice.

Merlin said softly "Well, it wouldn't really matter now, considering there would be no more dragonlords to lead."

"Or dragons" The prince added.

The men stood up and moved to the other part of the room that had plush seats. Merlin quickly cleared the table and placed all the dirty dishes on the tray, then he joined them. Arthur, meanwhile, poured a stronger after dinner wine for himself and Horatius. For Merlin, he poured water, knowing the man would decline anything else alcoholic.

They all sat and Horatius continued with the story.

"After the meeting with the dragonlords, I brought Balinor back to the manor for lunch and we discussed different options. We wanted to have some sort of plan in place to suggest before the meeting that afternoon. The best we could come up with was to send more dragons out to look for Aurelius and Uther. If we couldn't find them, all would be lost. We would have no one to take the throne. There is a big difference between fighting to retake the throne and instigating an all-out civil war to place a new king on the throne."

"How so?" Merlin asked.

Arthur answered for Horatius "The nobility would be less likely to impede the attempted return of the rightful heir to the throne. Even those that were working with Vortigen would be hesitant unless they were absolutely sure he would be victorious. They would have too much to lose. If the rightful heir were to retake the throne, he could…and in this case did…take all the noble's land and titles if he felt that noble had moved against him.

"With a civil war, and a crown up for grabs, it would be even bloodier. Noble would turn against noble. People against people. A new champion would be needed to rally the people. And of course, each of the high lords would feel that they - or their heir - would be that champion. The land would be fragmented. While the people bickered over who would be best, Vortigen's army, created by the lords who backed him, would have the upper hand."

Horatius smiled. "Correct, Sire. I see you have been well educated in the area of political relationships. I have no doubt your father had a hand in that."

Arthur all but preened. Merlin wanted to roll his eyes, but he had to admit that he truly admired Arthur's ability when it came to strategy and tactics, whether it be in the court or on the battlefield.

Horatius continued on with the story. "I had tried to get Balinor to rest a bit before the meeting, but he had too much pent up energy. I was very proud of him, you know. It had only been a day since losing his father, but he held himself together. At the same time, I was concerned for him. The emotions he was hiding from everyone would have to surface eventually.

Later, at the meeting, we solidified it as a council. Balinor took Lucan's place. Ector joined his father, Galan. Of course there was myself. There was also Sirs Tydewell and Lyndius. Tydewell was an older retired knight and Lyndius was his son. So it was six of us. It would, of course, grow over time. But at the time being it was better to have a small group for planning. We decided the best thing to do was to continue with the harvest and fortifying the Manor walls. Tydewell's wife, Greta and my wife, Anna, would start planning sleeping and living arraignments if we were to come under siege. Also we planned that my steward and Galan's steward would share responsibility over storage of the harvest.

"Balinor would go to the dragons and have them expand their search for the princes. Several talked of having the dragons as a first line of defense and offense. Balinor had to explain that dragons did not take an active role in human wars. However, due to the fact that the dragons themselves had been attacked, there might some who would be willing to help. He did clarify that he would not allow the dragons to take an offensive stance, only a defensive one.

"To say that several were upset by that would be a gross understatement. Tydewell, Lyndius and Galan only saw dragons as beasts to be controlled. They did not consider them, or any other animal, to be creatures with intelligence. They thought of them as weapons only. Balinor had try to explain to them, but was shouted down every time. In the end Balinor just stood up and announced that the dragons were his responsibility and his responsibility only. That he would tell them later what his decision was."

"What was Sir Ector's position?" The prince asked.

"Well, I think he took a "wait and see" attitude during that meeting. Ector is a thinker. He likes to look at all sides of an issue before he forms an opinion. He was also like that when he was a young man. In the end, he sided with Balinor. However, he had many private talks with Balinor before he made his decision."

"It is good that there are people who think instead of react" grunted out the manservant.

Arthur somewhat agreed "It is a good idea to think and look at an issue from all sides, but sometimes there isn't time, sometimes you have to just act"

"True" the manservant said "but they were at a _planning_ meeting. There was plenty of time to think and discuss. The problem was, they didn't want to listen to an opinion other than their own."

"That is true" the goldsmith injected "but think for a minute. What if the three of us were deciding on a course of action, and I said I had to ask my horse if he would be willing to ride into battle. The two of you would look at me like I had lost my mind.

"Most people believed that dragons were just simple beasts. That belief still holds true today. Matter of fact, had I not known Lucan and Balinor, and had I not spoken to Kilgharrah and some of the other dragons, I would probably have been of the same opinion. Sometimes, people need to be forgiven their ignorance."

Merlin huffed his agreement, but still seemed a bit irritated. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and neither Horatius nor Arthur missed the pained grimace.

"Are you in pain, my boy?" the old man asked.

"It's fine." Merlin answered "Just a little stiff"

"Go on and take your medicine" Arthur urged.

"Nah, it isn't bad yet, I can wait a little bit" the manservant demurred.

Horatius laughed. "I take it Gaius' potions are still as nasty tasting as always"

"Well, they aren't too bad if you like licking the bottom of a bog"

All three grimaced in agreement.

"Go on and take it _Mer_ lin. The longer you wait, the worse you will hurt. The more you hurt, the longer it will take the medicine to take effect. _And_ , it will still taste just as nasty." The prince reasoned with the young man.

Merlin couldn't argue with Arthur's logic. He sighed and pulled the bottle from his pocket. "I'll need something to wash this down with" he said staring pointedly at the wine jug.

"Oh no you don't" the prince started.

"Oh yes I do" the manservant retorted. "If you are going to make me drink this, the least you can do is give me something _decent_ to kill the taste. Besides _you_ said you could have a glass or two and it wouldn't hurt."

Arthur sighed and used his arm to gesture towards the wine jug. "If you get sick in here, I don't care about broken ribs, you will be in the stocks for a week."

Merlin slowly stood and walked over to the tray that held the jug. Although the boy had kept his face neutral throughout, the way he moved indicated to Arthur and Horatius that he was in considerably more pain that he had let on. He sat the vial down and picked up the jug and filled the goblet. He then set both down and picked back up the vial and uncorked it. He lifted it in salute to the two men then put it to his mouth and downed it as quickly as possible. As he was finishing it, he was already grabbing for the goblet. He lifted the goblet and chugged the wine down. He finally set it back on the tray, empty. He crossed his arms as he licked his lips slowly. He looked up at the ceiling and tilted his head as if contemplating the universe.

"You know," he said slowly "that wasn't half bad".

Both Horatius and Arthur groaned.

Arthur shook his head amused. "I think I am going to forbid you from associating with Gwaine. He is corrupting you."

Merlin pouted. Then he grinned. He slowly walked back over and sat back down. "Shall we get back to the story? What did he do after the meeting?"

"Well, he was upset, obviously" Horatius answered. "He was angry at them for not listening to him, and he was angry at himself for not being able to get them to listen. He was also upset because he felt if it were Lucan telling them, that they would have understood. Then there was the fact, of course, that he was in mourning and couldn't really take time to mourn. All in all, he was in a right state.

We walked around and I tried to calm him down a bit, although I don't think it was working. I saw a shadow overhead and saw Kilgharrah fly over. Balinor had paused for a moment then said that Kilgharrah wanted to meet with him at a clearing a few miles away. He said he wanted to go alone, but I wouldn't let him. First off, he was upset. Secondly, even though we figured it would still be a couple of weeks to a month before any of Voltigern's men would come, I was still concerned that there might be scouts about.

"I saddled us up a couple of horses and we rode out. It didn't take long to find the clearing. Kilgharrah was waiting there. He said that he had sensed Balinor's emotional turmoil and had come to take him off for a while. I asked him how long that he would keep him, that we were trying to prepare for battle.

"The dragon turned to me and stared at me with those big gold eyes. He said, 'I don't care about your puny human wars'. Word for word, that is what he said. He told Balinor to come along. Balinor gave me a hug and said he wouldn't be gone for too long. He then climbed on Kilgharrah. Before they left, Kilgharrah looked at me again and said 'He will be back when he _needs_ to be back. Be prepared.' At that he lifted off. I yelled at him again and again, asking him what he meant by 'be prepared', but he never answered. Damn cryptic dragon."

Merlin barked out a laugh, then covered his mouth. His eyes were crinkled with mirth.

Arthur glared at him "What the hell is so funny?"

Merlin uncovered his mouth, his lips still trembling. "Oh nothing. I, um, just thought it was funny."

"What, exactly about it was funny?" The prince inquired.

Well, um…" he trailed off then glanced around furtively then wrinkled his eyebrows as if trying to think of something to say "An overgrown winged lizard….talking in riddles. It's funny!" He burst out laughing again.

Arthur glared at him some more.

Merlin calmed himself again and frowned. "It's not funny?"

"No _Mer_ lin, it is not funny in the slightest." The prince growled.

Merlin pouted and grumbled softly "Well, I thought it was funny".

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Idiot."

Horatius shared an amused look with Arthur, then glanced back at the tray with the empty medicine bottle and wine goblet. "Perhaps we should finish this tomorrow."

"NO!, I want to hear more" the manservant stammered out.

Horatius laughed. "My boy, in about 15 minutes, you won't be hearing or feeling anything."

"I am _not_ drunk! See!" the young man exclaimed as he jumped up quickly from the chair to perform some feat to prove his sobriety. However, he stopped quickly and grabbed his ribs.

Arthur smirked openly. "Forgot that you were injured, didn't you?"

Merlin sighed dramatically "I. am. not. Drunk."

"No you aren't" Horatius agreed. "However, the wine and the medicine will hit you before long, I fear, and you will be lucky to walk back to your room."

Merlin looked deflated. "But…I _really_ want to hear more."

The _need_ in Merlin's eyes spoke volumes. Even Arthur saw it. "Don't worry, Merlin. Horatius will continue the story tomorrow."

"Yes I will" the old man assured him. "But for now, we need to get you back to your quarters." Horatius turned to Arthur. "If you don't mind, I'll walk Merlin back. I wanted to check in with Gaius anyway"

"I have to check on Leon as well, so I will accompany you." The prince replied. "Besides, if he _does_ start having problems walking a straight line, you'll need help."

* * *

As they walked down the steps to the courtyard Merlin stopped. A big smile spread across his face. "Look! A kitty!" He walked over to the step and bent down. "Hey there boy! What are you doing out tonight?" He started petting the cat.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "What are you doing _Mer_ lin?" He stepped around to see a creamy white long hair cat with a slightly darker points. "Oh for crying out loud, leave that poor cat alone"

"But he's so pretty. And look, he has your eyes!" The manservant said as he picked up the cat. He turned the cat to where it faced Arthur, and yes, it had bright blue eyes.

"Merlin, put the cat down" the prince sighed.

Merlin pulled the cat in close to him to where it faced him and started scratching behind its ears. "He's such a pretty cat. Yes he is. Look at those big beautiful blue eyes. Yes they are, they are beautiful. I bet the lady cats love those eyes" Merlin continued in baby talk to the cat. Finally, the cat jumped out of his arms and took back up its place on the step.

"Merlin?" Arthur asked softly, his face contemplative.

"Hmmm?" Merlin relied while watching the cat

"Did you just say my eyes were beautiful?"

"Hmmm?" Merlin asked again, then turned abruptly to look at Arthur. "WHAT?"

Arthur smirked. "You said my eyes were beautiful"

"I did not! I said the _cat's_ eyes were beautiful!" Merlin exclaimed, wide-eyed.

"Yes, but you said, and I quote 'Look! He has your eyes!" Arthur retorted. "So apparently you believe I have beautiful eyes."

Merlin sputtered. His face morphed into something between fear and disgust. It then settled into a thin lipped smile.

"Arthur, I am quite fond of you. But you aren't exactly my type" Merlin replied with all the decorum he could muster.

"Oh, and what type would that be, _Mer_ lin?" the prince inquired.

"Oh, I don't know" Merlin quipped "Maybe someone with a little more up here" he held his hands up to his chest to demonstrate "and a little less down here" pointing at his crotch.

They both turned to see Horatius leaning against a column with one arm and bent over laughing. His whole body shook. He finally stood up straight and brushed tears of mirth from his eyes. He calmed himself and shook his head. "The two of you are something else."

They walked the rest of the way without incident, Horatius would smile and his shoulders shake every now and again as he remembered the cat incident.

They opened the door to Gaius' chambers. Gaius was reading a book. Leon was on the cot sleeping. Arthur cleared his throat softly to get the physician's attention. Gaius signaled them to come over.

"How is he, Gaius?" Arthur asked softly.

"He woke up a little while ago, but has gone back to sleep. I asked him questions. He appears to have suffered no permanent brain damage. However, I do want to keep him at least until tomorrow evening. If he is doing satisfactorily, then he should be able to go home after dinner."

"I'm very happy to hear that" the prince said, relieved. "Would you mind if I stopped by in the morning and asked him some questions? If he is awake that is."

"That should be fine, Sire. Just don't tax him" the physician answered.

Gaius saw Horatius standing next to Merlin. "Horatius!" He exclaimed happily and walked over to give his old friend a hug. "It is good to see you"

The old goldsmith hugged back with gusto "It is good to see you too, old friend"

Before the two could get to reminiscing, Merlin interrupted. "I hate to break in, but I think I am going to bed. I'm sort of tired."

Gaius looked over his ward. "Do you need another vial of pain medicine?"

In unison, Arthur, Merlin, and Horatius called out a resounding "No!"

Gaius eyed them all suspiciously, but Merlin spoke up "No, really, I am fine for right now. I'm just tired and a bit sore. You might want to leave one out on the counter in case I need it later tonight."

"If you are sure, my boy." The old man eyed his ward up and down.

"I'm sure" Merlin smiled at his mentor. He nodded at the rest "Well, goodnight" he said and walked up the steps and entered his room.

Gaius turned back to the prince and his old friend. "Would you like some tea? I unfortunately don't have anything stronger at the moment"

"No thank you" Horatius answered. "I know you are busy tonight with your patient, and I don't want to wake him with our talking…but I was wondering if you possibly had something for my inflammation."

"Your shoulder acting up?" the physician queried.

"Ha! Isn't it always?" Horatius laughed back.

Gaius went to the cupboard, took out a bottle, and handed it to his old friend. "Only one spoonful before retiring. It should help you sleep and your shoulder should be less painful in the mornings."

As he started to say something else, they all heard a strange scratching sound. Afterwards they heard something that sounded similar to a child calling. Gaius raised an eyebrow, and the other two looked around trying to find where the sound was coming from. The scratching and calling became more insistent.

Arthur suddenly looked up with understanding. He shook his head and sighed as he walked to the door and opened it. In trotted a creamy colored cat that Gaius had never seen before. That cat walked across the room and up the stairs towards Merlin's room. The cat meowed one last time and the door opened only wide enough to allow furry creature enter, then closed again.

Gaius looked completely confused. He turned to the two men.

Arthur just shook his head. "Don't ask, Gaius. Don't ask."


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:  
Sorry for the late update! I was having "issues" with the story. I was sort of stuck in a maze trying to get out of "current" time and back to "the story". After duking it out with my muse, we came to an agreement. She would lead me out of the maze with this chapter, and we would get back to Horatius' story next chapter (which is mostly written and will be up in a day or two).**

 **ALSO...Important Historical (?) divergence... As we all know, BBC wrote the book on _"How I know nothing of Arthurian Legend but am still making a TV show about it"_ So I am scribbling a few notes in the back of their book. They have made Gwen the daughter of a blacksmith. This sort of leaves King Leodegrance out of the picture. Also, poor Sir Leon's parents are never known. THEREFORE (and my Muse wholeheartedly agrees!) the new history is that Leon is the youngest son of Leodegrance. In making their final alliance after Uther became King of Camelot, Leodegrance had pledged the infant Leon's service and fealty to Uther and Camelot when he grew up. (TA DA! Now everyone is happy...hopefully) **

* * *

Arthur saw Horatius to his room then stopped by his father's room only to find the king asleep. He pulled Uther's blanket up as it was askew, then left. He then made his way to his own chambers.

After changing into his night clothes, he poured himself a glass of wine and opened the box where he had stashed the jewelry that Horatius had given him. He pulled out the little cloth pouch that he had placed the dragon ring. He took the ring out and looked at it again in the firelight. It truly was a piece of art. It must have taken Horatius a long time to make it.

He wondered what Merlin would think of such a ring. Merlin had probably never owned a piece of jewelry in his life. As Arthur took a sip of his wine, he tried to imagine Merlin wearing such a ring. At first, he had thought that it would seem wrong for the man of such a meager lifestyle to wear something so ornate. But the more he thought about it, the more it seemed that the ring and Merlin belonged together. He _could_ visualize Merlin wearing it. Well, maybe not while mucking the stables, but he could envision him wearing it on other occasions.

Arthur put the ring back in the pouch and placed it back in the box. He finished the rest of his wine then stowed the box away and blew out the candles. He had a busy day tomorrow. He groaned at the thought of sitting through hours of council meetings.

* * *

Arthur woke abruptly to the sound of the curtain being flung open, bright light hitting his eyes, and a cheery "Rise and Shine". He grumbled and covered his head with a pillow.

He heard Merlin walk over and begin setting out his breakfast and decided to get up before the idiot tried to pull him out of bed. He stretched and threw a shirt over his head, then walked over to the table.

"Wow, up on the first call, I'm impressed" His manservant said with a grin.

"I have a busy day, might as well get it started" he said with a yawn. Then added "How are your ribs?"

"They're fine." Came the automatic response.

Arthur looked up to see his manservant moving slowly around the other side of the table. "They are fine? The last I heard, they were cracked. Cracked ribs are not 'fine' after only one day."

Merlin stopped and looked at him, then smirked. "Well, if you had rather, _Sire_ , I could go around whining and grumbling all day about how much pain I am in…would you prefer that?"

"No." The prince huffed. "But you could say something like 'They still hurt, but I'm getting by' that way you wouldn't be _lying_."

Arthur couldn't help but notice how Merlin's eyes diverted from him to the floor. After a moment, Merlin spoke softly "I could do that, but then you'd just tell me to 'stop being such a girl'. So I really can't win either which way, can I Arthur?"

Arthur opened his mouth to disagree, then closed it again. Merlin was right, that sounded exactly like something he would say, and probably had in the past.

Merlin broke the awkward moment by picking up a scroll and started listing off the days' itinerary "You have early training this morning. Only for an hour since you have council meetings today. Gwaine, Lancelot, Percival, and Elyan will train with you. Leon was supposed to lead the training on the other knights, who would you like to take over?"

Arthur scratched the back of his head for a moment as he thought. "I would say Bedivere, but I believe he has patrol this morning. I could have Lancelot and Gwaine train them, but that wouldn't go over well with some of the knights." Arthur paused for a moment, he really was irritated that the many of other knights seemed to look down on his new knights. "Have Bors train them. But have Gwaine and Lancelot do demonstrations. Have them fight against each other, or against Bors, _not_ against the other knights. I don't need any _incidents_ occurring."

Merlin scratched out a note then continued with itinerary. "You will have about 30 minutes after your training before the council meeting starts. The meeting will go until noon with a break for lunch. Anything not covered in the morning session will resume after lunch.

"Luckily, I went over the agenda, and it doesn't look too bad. The first issue up is the grain reserve. I looked over the report last night and added some notes for you."

"When last night? You with me last night" the prince wanted to know.

Merlin looked a bit sheepish "I had problems sleeping, I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep so I went over a copy of the grain report that Gaius had been given."

"Yes, because all young men who wake up in the middle of the night have a _burning desire_ to do math" the prince deadpanned.

Merlin smirked "Even if I had a _burning desire_ for _something else_ my cracked ribs would forestall any such activity. Besides, I was alone."

"Aren't you usually?" came the amused retort.

Merlin opened his mouth to comment when the realization of what Arthur was implying struck. He started sputtering, his face getting redder as the moments passed. "I don't…I….I…" His jaw worked as he tried to think of something to say. Finally, he sighed "I walked right into that, didn't I?"

"Yes, you most assuredly did" the prince burst into laughter.

Merlin huffed. He tried to regain his dignity by ignoring the laughter and continued with the agenda. "After that, the council will hear the report on repairs that need to be made to the north tower. Lastly, Geoffrey will give a report on how the cataloging of the archives is going. I am sure it will be…riveting."

Arthur groaned.

"On a bright note," the manservant continued "the rest of your day appears to be free. You were meant to tour the repairs on the gate, however they are still waiting on something to arrive, so it is pretty much the same as it was last time you toured."

"As long as they can still get it open and closed" The prince sighed. He glanced up at Merlin, amused that the man's ears were still fairly red. "Anything else?"

"No, that is about it. Of course you will want to take time to meet with Horatius" The manservant smiled brightly.

The prince huffed out a laugh. "Now who is enamored with Horatius?"

"I wouldn't say 'enamored', but you were right, he is quite interesting." Merlin conceded.

* * *

Merlin accompanied Arthur down to the training field, as usual. After they arrived, Arthur sent Merlin off to find Bors to deliver the message about training. A short time later, the manservant returned and gave the prince a quick nod to let him know he had delivered the message. By the time Arthur needed to leave, Bors was standing at the edge of the field. Arthur called him over as well as Gwaine and Lancelot and went over what he wanted done during training. Afterwards, he and Merlin headed back to get ready for the council meeting.

Arthur didn't need to go over the figures that Merlin had written on grain reserve report. He had long ago found out that his manservant was quite good at math and solving math problems. He was particularly glad that Merlin had gone over the report with a fine tooth comb when several of the lords advised to increase the price of grain to the peasantry. His father had always agreed with whatever price they suggested without going over the report. When Arthur looked at the notes in the margin, he noted that the price Merlin had figured was considerably less than what the lords were suggesting.

As the lord who held the floor continued with his speech, Arthur held up his goblet to indicate he needed drink and Merlin came to his side. "Do you have the figures that show how you came to this price?" The prince asked very quietly so that no one could overhear.

Merlin set down the pitcher and rummaged through the top few sheets of the papers that sat before the prince then placed one on the top without comment. He picked back up the pitcher and backed into the shadows once more.

Arthur looked at the page, it was completely covered with math computations, neatly labeled as to what each was being used for. The 'price' figures factored in many things, including a very generous profit for the lords. Arthur also glanced again at the report. He had noted before that Merlin and written in large letters at the bottom that the reserve/surplus that the report suggested was not enough to feed the populace in the event of an emergency. His eyes flicked back over to the page with Merlin's figures. He was so engrossed with going over it that he failed to notice when the lord stopped talking.

Arthur looked up when he heard Gaius clear his throat loudly. "Oh, yes. Sorry Lord Dingus. I was just going over the reports here. The price and the reserve that you are suggesting do not agree with the numbers I am coming up with. Perhaps if you have something that shows how you came by your figures so that I can compare them?"

The lord looked stunned. "My Lord, I can assure you that the figures are correct. We use a _scientific_ formula to determine the price and the reserves.

"Who are 'we'?" The prince inquired politely.

"Myself, Lord Risling, Lord Bendal, and Lord Evertis." The lord said haughtily, while looking rather smug.

"I can understand your confusion sire, but it is a complex matter, it isn't _simple_ math." Lord Risling added with a condescending smile that bordered on a smirk.

Arthur considered the men. Each of the four lords were on the list that Horatius had given him previously. He looked at Risling and gave him a placating smile. "I am sure that is the case, Lord Risling. Perhaps you can show me how it is determined. Surely you have your computations with you to back up the report."

Anger flashed across Lord Risling's face "We have never been required to previously. You _Father_ would not _insult_ his trusted advisors in such a way."

Arthur stared him down coolly. "No insult was intended, Lord Risling. I am sorry if you took it as one. However, I have requested your computations to back up these figures. I have been given another set of figures and the computations. I expect you to do the same. I shall give you one week."

Arthur looked around at all the council members and addressed them with a low cold voice. "I would hope that my father's council would not try to take advantage of his illness to line their coffers. I would also hope that they would not try to take advantage of me, thinking I am ill-prepared. Do not make that mistake. Remember that each seat on this council is at the discretion of the crown, and the crown can easily take away that seat."

Arthur paused for a moment to calm himself and forced a pleasant smile on his face. "Now, I believe it is time to go to the next order of business"

The rest of the council meeting went along smoothly and Geoffrey finished up his report in time for them all to be released before lunch. The nobility cleared out quickly. Gaius, however remained to speak to Merlin.

"How are your ribs?" The physician asked.

"They're fine" Merlin said without thinking.

Arthur cleared his throat loudly and stared pointedly at his manservant.

Merlin grimaced then rolled his eyes. "Actually, they still hurt, but I am getting by." He looked back at his prince "happy now?"

The prince crossed his arms with a satisfied smile on his face and nodded.

Gaius looked between the two of them then waved his hand in an 'I don't want to know' gesture. He made Merlin pull up his tunic so he could check the wrapping. "These are still tight enough, but I want them rewrapped this evening" then handed Merlin a couple of vials of pain medicine.

"By the way, is that damnable cat still in your room? I don't want it making a mess." The physician asked irritably.

"No, he left out the window last night. Apparently cats don't like math." Merlin grinned.

Gaius sighed and shook his head. After finishing with Merlin, he turned towards the prince. "He really should not lift anything Sire. It is going to take a while for his ribs to heal. Also, I wanted to tell you that Sir Leon is doing well. I plan to release him later today. However, he won't be able to return to duty for at least a month, possibly two. He will need to do exercises as well to regain use of his arm."

The prince nodded his head. "Very good. Would it be okay for me to visit him now?"

"That would be fine, Sire. Perhaps you can cheer him up. He's unhappy, to say the least, that he won't be able to get back to duty right away." The physician said thoughtfully.

"Merlin," Arthur said turning towards his manservant, "I should be back shortly. Have the kitchen send up my lunch to my quarters." With that, he turned and left with the physician.

* * *

After visiting with the injured knight, the prince returned to find his lunch set out on the table, and his manservant tidying up the room.

"How's Leon" Merlin asked as he walked over and poured a goblet of water for Arthur.

"He has a bad headache and can hardly move his arm, but he says he is happy to be alive." The prince answered. "By the way, have the steward assign someone as a servant to him until he recovers".

"What about Timothy?" The manservant inquired.

"Leon sent him back to Cameliard last week to be with his family. Timothy's mother is very ill. Leon isn't sure when he will be back. He gave him leave to take as long as he needed."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Timothy often speaks of his mother. I hope she'll get better." Merlin said sadly. "I'll go to the steward as soon as you finish lunch"

"That's okay, go on and go now. It might takes the steward some time to find someone and I want them there when Gaius releases him." The prince ordered.

Merlin headed straight to the stewards office and put in a request. Upon leaving he stumbled into Gwen and Sabine as they were entering the steward's office. "Sorry, sorry" he said as he grabbed Gwen's arm to keep her from falling.

They all laughed at Merlin's perpetual clumsiness. Gwen spoke up "What are you doing here?"

"Requesting a servant for Leon until he gets better. Timothy has gone back to Cameliard to tend his mother. From what I understand she is rather sick" The manservant responded.

"Oh no! I hope she'll be okay!" Gwen said fretting.

"I don't know how serious it is, but from what I hear he might be gone a little while. So what are you doing here?"

"Oh, Sabine needs a job. We were coming to the steward to see if he had anything." Gwen replied.

Merlin looked at Sabine. She was staring back at him with a star-struck expression. "I hope you find something!" he gave her a big smile. "Well, I have to get back to Prince Dollophead"

"Merlin!" Gwen exclaimed in amused exasperation. Merlin laughed and started walking back towards Arthur's chambers, leaving them with a "See you later!" over his shoulder.

He slowed after he was out of their eyesight. He liked Sabine, but the way she looked at him made him very uncomfortable. He was used to Arthur getting such looks from ladies, not himself. It wasn't as if the women didn't ever flirt with him. Oh, they did, rather often as a matter of fact. He was known to be somewhat of a flirt himself. Well, when Arthur and the knights weren't around. He learned that lesson early on. It was either being teased by Arthur, or worse yet, being given _advice_ by the knights. Being given advice by Gwaine was something he never, ever, _ever_ want to experience again. And no number of "Yes, Gwaine, amazingly I do indeed know what to do with a woman, AND where everything goes." would stop the knight. It still made him blush thinking about it. Of course it wasn't nearly as awkward as when Gaius had tried to give him 'The Talk'. That had been embarrassing all the way around. He didn't even want to think about the number of stories he had to concoct for his mentor when he was extremely late coming home, or those rare occasions when he didn't show up until after the sun had risen. He had a feeling that Gaius didn't buy them.

Sabine? The way she looked at him was different. It wasn't flirting, or even desire. It was hero worship that he saw in her eyes, and yes, it made him incredibly uncomfortable. Yes, he had stood up for her and fought the bandits, but it was the knights who ended up saving both of them. Well, that wasn't exactly true. He knew he could have taken all the bandits, and would have been forced to do so had the knights not arrived. However, since the knights _did_ arrive, _they_ should get the credit.

Merlin was interrupted from his thoughts by someone calling his name. He looked around twice before he saw the goldsmith coming towards him. He was carrying a variety of items in his arms.

Horatius stopped in front of Merlin, laughing, slightly out of breath. "I've been down to the market. I found some things to take back to my daughter-in-law." He indicated a couple of bolts of silk to the manservant.

Merlin took most of the items from the older man to help him carry them. "When will you be going back?" Merlin inquired as they started walking to Horatius' guest quarters.

"I need to leave by the end of the week. I want to get back before my newest grandson is born." The goldsmith smiled brightly.

"Or granddaughter" Merlin teased.

"She already has one of each, so I will be happy either way." Horatius replied jovially. "This whole baby business can turn hardened warriors into blathering fools. As long as she and the baby are okay, I will be thrilled."

Merlin smiled. Then thought a moment. "The end of the week is day after tomorrow! Will you be able to finish telling us about Balinor?"

The old man smiled kindly at him. "I wouldn't leave you in the middle of a story. I might have to abbreviate it a little bit, but not much. Of course, I have other stories about Balinor, but those will have to wait until another time."

As they entered Horatius' quarters Merlin asked "You knew him rather well, didn't you?"

"When he was young, yes. I had also seen him a few times….after everything. He had become bitter. He was so totally opposite from the young idealistic man that I knew. I can't really say that I blame him though."

Merlin had wanted to ask more, needed to ask more, but he knew that it might raise suspicion. Instead he just commented "You know, Arthur has the rest of the afternoon free."

"I thought he was in a council meeting" the old man responded.

"It let out earlier than we had expected, and his other appointment was canceled." Merlin didn't add that he thought the reason for the early dismissal was because Arthur had come down hard on several of the lords.

Horatius opened the door to his chambers and they both walked in. "Why don't you ask him if he would like to continue now? I promised Gaius that we would meet up tonight after Sir Leon is released" the goldsmith suggested.

"I'll go ask him. I'll come back to get you if he says yes." Merlin said eagerly.

"Why don't we meet here? It is comfortable and you will probably feel less like a servant than you would in Arthur's chambers." The old man reasoned.

The manservant laughed "Yes, it is somewhat strange to sit in one of Arthur's chairs."

"Very good then, here it shall be. That is if the prince approves." Horatius smiled.

Fifteen minutes later Merlin was back with Arthur in tow. Both the young men excited to hear more of the story. No sooner had they sat down, there was a knock at the door. Merlin got up and answered it and allowed a servant to enter carrying a tray of refreshments. The young man set down the tray and left. Merlin smiled when he saw that the pitchers were filled with the berry drink. He filled the three goblets and handed them out before sitting back down.

Horatius laughed "You two are spoiling me! Back home, only the youngest of my grandchildren will listen to my stories. I guess the others are tired of hearing them."

"Where I grew up, in Ealdor, storytelling is valued and considered almost an art" The manservant stated.

"Really?" The prince asked.

"Well, most people there can't read or write. So the oral tradition is very important." The manservant said softly.

"Where did _you_ learn to read and write?" The goldsmith inquired.

"I spent a lot of time at my mother's side. She taught me to read, write and to do math. She also taught me Latin and Greek."

"Your mother must be proud. Most boys would rather be out playing with their friends during their free time." Horatius responded.

Merlin smiled tightly, but his eyes were pained. Arthur remembered what Gaius had said about Merlin's childhood and changed the subject. "So, where did we leave off last night?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Authors Note:  
Chapter 10 is up! (as you can see). I hope it doesn't bore you to tears. My Muse is sitting over in the corner all huffy singing "They are going to hate it" over and over again in that sing-song voice of hers. It is very irritating.**

 **The next chapter probably won't be up until the middle of next week, or possibly even that weekend. So please stick with me.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Horatius thought for a second. "I believe we left off with Balinor going off with Kilgharrah. He had been very upset after the meeting. I hoped that Kilgharrah could help him.

"Balinor returned six days later. He was considerably calmer. More 'at himself' than he had been when he left. Within an hour of his arrival, we received word from one of our scouts that an emissary from Vortigern was en route with a contingent of about 10 soldiers, and that they would arrive in about two hours time.

"We had the people go back to their homes, however many decided to send their women and children to the forest to be safe. Balinor had five of the dragonlords call their dragons. When they arrived, he had them rest out in the fields surrounding the manor. Sort of a 'show of strength' if you will. Kilgharrah was still there so that made six total. By the time the contingent arrived, the dragons had spread out, but had lined up, three on each side, of the path leading up to the manor." Horatius laughed "They looked like really, _really_ big sleeping guard dogs. Balinor told me he hadn't told them to line up like that, but the intimidation factor was priceless.

"I don't even remember the name of the idiot they sent to make demands. He was short, fat, balding and wore ridiculously expensive clothes. You know the type, pompous minor lord who found himself in the favor of the new ruler. He strutted around like the only cock in the henhouse. Sort of looked like one too.

"He had barely gotten off his horse before he started asking questions. Said he saw that we had taken in the harvest and had we already sent part of it to the 'king'. I told him we wouldn't talk until we got to the council. He also said that he wanted to talk to whomever was in charge of the dragonlords. I told him that the dragonlords would be there as well.

"He brought five of the soldiers with him and left the rest outside. I can only feel that he left those outside to be intimidating instead of worrying about security. He was insulting and infuriating. We finally got to the room I was using as the council chambers. In all there were about twenty-five of us there. The council we had created the week before, the dragonlords, quite a few of the knights, several of the farmers who were well respected, then of course the idiot lord and his soldiers.

"After introductions were made, he started spouting out demands like grain and men for Vortigern's army. He had been speaking for a while when I noticed Balinor look up startled. He looked like he was listening hard to something, then a small smile spread across his face. A couple of minutes later, the other dragonlords seemed to be looking at each other with a look of satisfaction on their faces. I tried to catch Balinor's attention, but he just shook his head indicating 'not now'.

"When the emissary _finally_ stopped talking, I told him that we did _not_ recognize Vortigern as the rightful king and we would send no tax, no grain, and no men. I told him when Prince Aurelius, the rightful heir, was crowned king, I would be happy to comply.

"Then that horrible little maggot smiled. With great flourish he said that both Aurelius and Uther were dead.

"My heart dropped to my stomach. By the looks of the others on the council, theirs did too. All except Balinor.

Balinor just looked at the man and smirked and asked him "When did this happen, _My Lord?"_ real sarcastic like. The lord apparently thought that Balinor was a peasant, and acted like he wasn't going to answer. Finally he did and told us they died the week before. Balinor then said something like "Oh, I see" but was still acting like he was amused. Then he asked him where they were killed. The man couldn't answer that. Then demanded Balinor identify himself. Balinor wouldn't. But he did continue to talk. He told the little maggot that he had it, on very good authority, that both princes were in excellent health.

"The lord kept insisting that the princes were dead. But the fact that Balinor, and all the dragonlords it seemed, thought that they were alive gave us hope.

"After that, the cockroach turned to the subject of dragons. He demanded to know who was in charge of the dragonlords.

Balinor stood up and told him that he was and asked him what he wanted. The man asked if he were Sir Lucan. Balinor told him, no, that Sir Lucan was his father. Well, the lord said he would only talk to Lucan. Balinor walked up to the man – he was a good foot taller than the lord – and bent down and looked in his face. He said "In order to see my father, you will need to be a ghost. Would you like me to help you with that?"

"The man backed away from him and started stammering. Balinor had, by that time, had enough. He asked the man again what he wanted from him. Finally they man pulled out a parchment and started spouting off some sort of flowery speech about how there was an agreement between the crown and the dragons, and that the dragons would not interfere in wars, or attack the kingdom.

"When the man finished, Balinor ripped the parchment out of his hand and threw it on the floor. He told him that there was no agreement between dragons and rulers. Dragons did not interfere in human wars because it didn't concern them, not because there was an agreement.

"When the man finally started to look relieved, Balinor added in a "But…"

"He said that since Vortigern was _stupid_ enough to attack the dragons, then it did now, indeed, involve them. That the dragons were _angry_. That the _only_ reason that Camelot Castle was not a smoldering pile of rubble was because the dragonlords had commanded them not to attack. And the _only_ reason that the dragonlords had so commanded was for the welfare of the innocents who lived there. Then he got right up in the little man's face and said very low and dangerously "I suggest you go back to your _master_ and tell him that it would be best for him not to leave his castle. While the castle and the town are safe, if a dragon sees him outside the walls…he'll be lucky not to be turned into a roasted dragon snack."

Horatius laughed "By the time Balinor was finished with him, he was pale, sweaty, and cowering up against one of the soldiers accompanying him. After that, Balinor went back to his seat. It was obvious that no more discussion was needed so we told them to leave.

"We made sure they had gotten past the last of the dragons before we went back inside. Once we got back to the council chambers, Balinor told us that two of the dragons had found Aurelius and Uther.

"We planned the rest of the day on how to get to them undetected.

"We retired that evening with only preliminary plans. Earlier, after Balinor said that the dragons had found the princes, I sent several of my fastest riders with word to several of the lords that I knew were on our side. Balinor sent two of the dragonlords to Prince Godwyn and King Leodegrance, respectively. Godwyn was here by nightfall – on the back of a dragon, no less." Horatius chuckled at that, then continued. "As you know, he and Uther were childhood friends.

"King Leodegrance sent word that he could not send troops, however, if we could get the princes back, he would give them safe haven.

"By noon the next day, we had representatives from the lords we had contacted. Some offered men, others offered other types of support. Those were the ones with land too close to Vortigern, and it would be obvious if their men started riding out.

"We decided it would be best for just a small group to go after the princes, less obvious that way. A larger group would head in another direction towards Essetir. We hoped that they would lead Vortigern's men on a wild goose chase.

"We left out at midnight. There were five of us on horseback. Myself, Godwyn, Lyndius, Ector, and Sir Liam. Balinor had two dragons and their dragonlords follow the group heading for Essetier. Another group stayed near the Manor to protect in while we were gone. Then he and Taishi followed us with Kilgharrah, Marabba, and Isaoryu. The last one was Taishi's dragon. He was different than the other dragons. He was very long and narrow, almost like a serpent with wings and legs."

"Taishi? That is a rather uncommon name" The prince mused.

"He was a foreigner from an island far east from here. He was also unique in his appearance. Very tanned but his skin was more of a bronze golden color. His clothing was also quite different. He was a good man." Horatius sighed sadly.

"I'm sorry, please continue" The prince softly urged.

"Balinor rode Marabba. I think Kilgharrah was still somewhat nervous to have someone ride him after what happened with Lucan. Of course he had told Balinor that it was because Marabba needed to learn to carry a human rider." Horatius laughed softly "I don't think anyone actually bought it.

"We rode all day and finally stopped for the night. We found a rather large clearing on the shore of a lake. I didn't like being in the open, but we needed it for the dragons. We set up near the tree line and left the clearing for the dragons in hopes that if anyone were looking, they would only see the dragons.

"As soon as Taishi took the saddle off of his dragon, it flew up into the air and then dived into the lake. Taishi laughed at our expressions. He said that Isaoryu spent most of his time in the water when not flying, that it was his natural habitat. About five minutes later, the dragon came back to the surface with two large fish in his claws and threw them up on the shore for us. I have to say I was thrilled. We were all tired and didn't feel like hunting.

"We cleaned and cooked the fish and discussed our plans for the next day. We were still three days away from where we needed to be because we had to circumvent a gorge to get to the hill on the other side where the princes were.

"The dragons, of course, had no problem with that. But we didn't want to give Aurelius and Uther a heart attack by sending them without us." Horatius chuckled.

"Yes, having a dragon, let alone three, land in front of you is a terrifying experience. I would not like to imagine my father messing his pants" The prince agreed.

Merlin let out a snort, but quickly covered his mouth. His shoulders however still shook, betraying his silent laughter.

"It wasn't that funny, _Mer_ lin" the prince growled at his manservant.

Merlin, for his part, had given up any pretense of not laughing. "I'm sorry, Sire, but truly, it was" he was able to say before going into another fit of laughter. Arthur glared at him then looked to Horatius who was studiously staring at the floor. His lips quivering in an attempt to hide a smile.

Horatius coughed and cleared his throat and schooled his expression and continued with the story. "Um, yes, well, like I said, we were planning our route for the next day. After that, we sat around for a while sharing stories. Taishi told us about his homeland. Liam talked about previous battles. Lyndius treated us to a few ribald stories. Things like that. Then we settled down to sleep.

"Sometime deep in the night, I heard the dragons stirring. Balinor and I both got up and saw a new dragon coming in to land. We walked over just as Isaoryu slithered out of the water and up to the other dragons. Taishi came up behind us. Apparently the commotion has woken him too. For a while they were all silent, apparently using their mind-speech. I gently jabbed Balinor in the ribs to remind him I was there. He looked a bit sheepish then told the dragon to speak out loud. The dragon said that a large group of Saxons were nearing the mountain where the princes were hiding out. He also said that he saw some men that wore Vortigern's colors. So the odds that they were there for any other reason were slim.

"Balinor asked how far away the Saxons were from Uther and Aurelius. The dragon said a day's ride, perhaps more, but not likely. I told Balinor that I would rouse the men, but he told me to wait until he got back. He asked the dragon if he would take him to show the Saxons and where the princes were. The dragon agreed and they flew off a few minutes later.

"They came back a couple of hours later. Dawn was approaching with just a slight hint of color in the east. Balinor told us to wake everyone and have breakfast while he went over the maps. By the time the sun had risen, Balinor had gone down to the sandy shore and taken a stick and drew out sort of a map in the sand. He quickly ate his breakfast and called everyone over including the dragons. Taishi and I had already told everyone what had happened the night before, so Balinor went straight into his reconnaissance report. He pointed to one point on his sand map and told us that was where the princes were high up on the mountain, along with two or three other people. He then showed where the Saxons were at the base of the mountain and that two groups were camped out, each at the beginning of the two trails that lead up the face. There was no way for the princes to get back down without being caught.

"Then Balinor pointed to a way off corner of his sand map and said that is where we were, then traced the route we had planned the day before. Obviously we would not get there in time. Then he pointed to a mountain that was directly opposite of the mountain the princes were on, and traced us another route that would take only a few hours to get to the base. And the trails were easy to ride with a horse, albeit slowly. We would arrive at the point directly opposite the group by early evening.

"Lyndius asked what good it would do to be on an opposite mountain, we still couldn't help them. That is when Balinor gave a big smile. "I have an idea" he said. He glanced at Kilgharrah hesitantly but told us that he had heard of a sorceress, a high priestess of the Old Religion who could create a mist…like a fog or cloud. The mist would allow the princes and their group to ride across it as if it were solid and get to our side. The mist would then settle and none of the Saxons could follow.

"Kilgharrah was not happy about the plan. Apparently he did not trust the sorceress. Balinor asked if he thought the sorceress would betray them to the Saxons. Kilgharrah said no, but that association with her would do Camelot no good and they would come to regret knowing her in the end.

"Balinor told Kilgharrah that the only other option would be for the dragons to fly the princes and their parties across. The dragons did not like that idea at all. In the end, Kilgharrah flew off to find the sorceress."

Merlin interrupted before Horatius continued. "Do you know the name of the sorceress?"

"Nimueh" the goldsmith said tersely.

Merlin and Arthur stared at each other knowingly. They looked back at Horatius.

"I take it you have heard of her?" the old man inquired.

"Yes, she caused some problems a few years back. But we have not heard from her lately. I sincerely hope she doesn't join forces with Morgause and Morgana." The prince said while running his hand through his hair.

"I doubt it, My Lord. I have heard rumor that she has perished." The goldsmith responded.

"Really?" the prince asked hopefully. A smile playing on his lips.

The manservant, Horatius noted, had gone completely still. His eyes wide and looked almost fearful. The old man considered this and placed it in the back of his mind to ponder upon later, then spoke. "Like I said, it is rumor, however I take the source as being a reliable one."

"Who was the source?" The prince pressed.

"A Druid Chieftain by the name of Iseldir." The goldsmith said simply.

Merlin and Arthur looked at each other. Arthur knew the name, but couldn't place it. Merlin bent over and quietly said "The _Cup_."

Arthur's eyebrows shot up as he realized who Horatius was speaking of. "How do you know the Druids?"

Horatius looked at the prince somewhat confused. "Sire?"

Arthur noted the look of confusion on the goldsmith's face, which in turn confused the prince. "How do you know Iseldir and the druids?" he asked again.

"Through Anna, of course." The old man responded, still confused as to why the prince was asking. Then realization seemed to strike the goldsmith and he exclaimed "OH!" He then smiled at the prince. "I'm sorry, Sire, I just presumed that you knew. My wife, Anna, was _born_ a Druid."

Arthur's eyebrows shot up. "No, I didn't know that."

Horatius frowned slightly. "I'm sorry, Sire, I thought it was common knowledge."

"So that is how you knew Iseldir?" Merlin asked.

"I had met him quite a few times over the years. Sometimes they would stop by when moving camp or we would join them for the Beltane feast when their camp was in the vicinity, although that wasn't often." The goldsmith smiled at the memories.

"So how did you find out about Nimueh?" Arthur asked.

Horatius smiled sadly "Three years ago, come next month, he came to visit Anna on her death bed, to give her the final rites of their people. He stayed with us for several days, until the end. She kept asking him if 'the cup' was safe. He told her that it was. While she was sleeping, I asked him what she was talking about. He said that there was a powerful cup that had been entrusted to Nimueh. That he himself had felt the call of the cup. The only way that could happen is if Nimueh were no longer alive. That he had gone to the Isle of the Blessed and searched for both Nimueh and the cup. The cup, he found in some sort of cave. He found nothing of Nimueh except for a scorch mark near the alter."

"So she is gone then, as in dead" The prince asked.

"That is the general consensus, Sire." The goldsmith answered.

"I wonder how she died. Did you find out?" Arthur inquired.

Horatius started to speak but was interrupted by Merlin. "This is all very interesting, but, um, wouldn't it be good to get back to the story?"

"I'm sure it will only take a few minutes, Merlin." The prince rolled his eyes.

"No, Merlin is right" the old man stated "We can ponder the demise of Nimueh – at length – another time. It will give me an excuse to come back!" The goldsmith smiled brightly. The warlock let out a sigh of relief.

"Let's see," The goldsmith continued "Kilgharrah flew off to find Nimueh and we headed towards the mountain. A couple of hours later, Balinor flew down and said that Kilgharrah had spoken to her and that she had agreed. She would be there by the time we reached the summit.

"Balinor sent Taishi and the other dragon to keep an eye out on the progress of the Saxons and to slow them down if need be. He had told them to stay out of sight if at all possible. That wasn't much of an issue for Isaoryu as he could move through the trees easily, but it was a bit harder for the other dragon. However, he did a pretty good job of it. They uprooted trees along the paths to slow down the troops.

"By the time we reached the summit, it was night time and a heavy fog was starting to roll in. Well, I thought it was a fog. Nimueh was chanting something. I didn't understand the words. But she kept repeating them over and over. The fog started at the summit and rolled down the mountain side and then started rising the other side.

"On the other mountain, the Saxons had all but reached the princes' party. Kilgharrah and Marabba flew over and laid down a line of fire so the Saxons couldn't get through. By this time, of course, Aurelius and Uther were well aware that there were dragons around. Balinor had called Marabba back to take him over to where the princes were. Well, of course as soon as Balinor dismounted and Marabba had gone back to helping Kilgharrah, Uther attacked him."

Horatius sat back and began to laugh heartily. After a minute he calmed himself and attempted to speak "Even from where we were, all the way on the other mountain, I could hear Balinor yelling out 'Can't you see we're here to help you, you supercilious prat!'" Horatius burst out laughing again. This time Merlin joined him. Arthur shook his head in amusement and again understood why his manservant had reminded the old man of Balinor.

Horatius calmed himself down again and continued. "Apparently, Aurelius intervened and Balinor was finally able to tell them what was happening and what the plan was. Uther was still suspicious that it was a trick by the Saxons. Finally Balinor sent Marabba back to bring Godwyn over. After talking to Godwyn, Uther was finally appeased. "

"I thought dragons didn't like for people to ride them. I mean, non-dragonlord people." Merlin left the obvious question unasked.

"Horatius drummed his finger on the table for a moment. He was obviously considering whether to tell them something or not. Finally, he sat forward. "What I'm about to tell you is not common knowledge. It would be best for it to remain that way….Godwyn's uncle, his mother's eldest brother, was a dragonlord. Remember what I said earlier about children of dragonlords having an affinity with dragons, even if they won't ever become dragonlords? Well, apparently, in this case, it also extended to the grandchildren. Godwyn's mother grew up around dragons, but her father died before Godwyn was born. His uncle died when Godwyn was around ten or eleven years old. He had no male heir. Godwyn holds no sway over dragons, but they seem to welcome him around. I don't know for sure, but I figure it has to do with his uncle and grandfather."

"I understand, you can be assured we won't tell anyone" the prince promised.

"Okay, so back to the story. Godwyn calmed Uther down. The dragons kept the Saxons at bay for another hour until Nimueh completed her spell. The fog covered everything below us. It was so thick you couldn't see anything through it. It looked like clouds…but like from above as opposed to below.

"Balinor had told them that they would be able to ride across the divide between the mountains. To say they were skeptical would be an understatement. I can understand that. Finally Balinor took one of the horses and rode out over the fog for a short distance to prove it would work, then rode back and gave them back the horse.

"Kilgharrah told Balinor to have them hurry, that he sensed something that wasn't right. So the party started across. They had made it half way when the fire line broke and someone stepped out. The Saxons – or rather Vortigern's men with Saxon backing – had brought a sorcerer. He started casting spells at the fog and it started to dissipate. Kilgharrah and the other dragon started breathing fire at him, but he had some sort of magical shield. But at least he had stopped casting his spell. The fog floor was still disintegrating, but luckily from it was going from one side to the other instead of the whole floor dropping out at once. But it was still going faster than the horses were riding. The party got across just as the fog dissipated. Balinor and Godwyn lifted off on two of the dragons. Godwyn came back to us and told us to start heading down the far side of the mountain, out of direct line of sight of the sorcerer. Balinor had stayed behind to give Kilgharrah support. The other dragon, after he dropped Godwyn off, went back to Balinor.

"Nimueh dropped the rest of the spell so that the other sorcerer couldn't rebuild it, then we all started down the path. After Balinor was sure we were all safe, he called Kilgharrah off. The dragons flew off in different directions so the sorcerer would have a harder time attacking. They met up with us about a half hour later at a clearing. We rested for a while and chatted. Oh, by the way, the party consisted of Aurelius and Uther, of course, as well as Gorlois, Gaius, and a young man named Uban. He and Gaius got the princes out of the manor they were visiting when Vortigern's men attacked. Goloris met up with them sometime shortly after.

"We only rested for a short time before we had to continue. We wanted to be well clear of the mountain before the Saxons could get down the other. It took us a week to reach Cameliard. It shouldn't have taken that long, but Vortigern's men were everywhere…."

A knock at the door interrupted the story. Merlin got up and opened the door. Gaius walked in. "Merlin! There you are. I was wondering where you got away to. You didn't come back to have your wraps changed." The old physician admonished.

"Sorry Gaius." The prince said as he stood up. "We were talking with Horatius".

Horatius glanced at the window and noticed the darkening sky. "I'm sorry Gaius. The time slipped by. I hadn't realized it had gotten so late." The goldsmith turned back to the prince and manservant. "Gaius and I had planned to get together this evening."

"I can come back later…" the physician started to say. The prince cut him off. "No, Gaius. We have taken up enough of Horatius' time for today. I know the two of you have a lot of catching up to do."

"Thank you, Sire. We can finish tomorrow." The goldsmith said, then turned to Merlin. "I promise." He smiled.

The prince and manservant started to leave but Gaius interrupted them. "Sire, Sir Leon has been released and is back in his quarters. A manservant has been assigned to him for the evening and morning. The girl Sabine will tend him during the day. I have found she has training in medicine, she is also very knowledgeable about exercises after injuries."

"Very good." The prince replied.

"One other thing, Sire. May I speak with Merlin in private for a moment? I need to go over a few things with him."

Gaius and Merlin walked a short way down the hall and spoke softly to where they couldn't be overheard. "Merlin," Gaius began "the girl, Sabine, has been trained in medicine. Druid medicine."

Merlin's head shot up. "You mean she's a Druid?"

Gaius nodded his head. "Yes. The story she gave yesterday appears to be true. She just declined to say that she was from a druid camp."

Merlin shook his head "Does she know how dangerous it is for her to be here?" He then got closer to Gaius "Do you think _she_ might be a danger?"

Gaius shook his head "No, I believe her story. But it still would be best to keep an eye on her."

Merlin shook his head in agreement then glanced back at Arthur who was watching them with a detached expression. "I better get back before he starts asking questions"

Gaius smiled and clapped his hand on the manservants shoulder. He spoke up louder to be overheard "and don't forget to get your ribs rewrapped. I also left out two vials of medicine should you need them." He said as he and Merlin walked back to the prince and goldsmith.

Arthur and Merlin took their leave of the two older gentlemen and headed back to Arthur's chambers.

"So, what was that about?" The prince enquired.

"Oh, you know, reminding me of things that I 'forgot' to do." The manservant lied.

"And did you forget to do them?" The prince asked with a smirk.

Merlin gave him gave him a side eye. "Of course not." He smiled. "At least I don't have to clean the leach tank now".

As they got closer to the prince's quarters, Merlin stopped a young servant and told him to have someone from the kitchen bring up Arthur's dinner. The young man gave Merlin a dirty look, but did as he was told.

"Ah, I see you are finally learning to delegate responsibility." The prince laughed.

"Yeah, well, they aren't too happy when I do so." The manservant grumbled.

Arthur laughed as they walked into his chambers. Merlin automatically started picking up around the room. Arthur sat down at his desk looking at papers that had piled up, and sighed. "I think I'll start locking the door when I leave, that way they can't come in and pile more of this on me" pointing at the stacks of parchment.

"You could always leave a basket out in the corridor that they could leave the papers." The manservant replied.

"Too public" The prince quipped. He paused and thought for a moment. "I could have them put it on a table just inside the door."

"That would work, that way it wouldn't get mixed up with what you are already working on." The manservant agreed.

A knock came to the door. Merlin opened it to find a servant carrying the tray holding Arthur's dinner. The young man came in and placed the tray on the table, bowed to the prince then left.

Merlin sighed and started taking everything off the tray and started setting Arthur's table.

"Couldn't the servant do that?" the prince asked.

"Apparently not" Merlin winced. "At least I didn't have to carry it."

Arthur came over and sat just as Merlin finished setting the table. Merlin poured him a goblet of wine then stepped back. "Would you like me to sort out your papers for you while you eat?"

"Would you?" The prince looked up smiling. If there was one thing he hated, it was paperwork. At least this way it would all be sorted into piles.

Merlin snorted. "You realize, you will be dealing with paperwork and reports when you become king."

"No I won't" the prince shot back.

"And how is that?" The manservant wanted to know.

"I fully intend on outlawing all forms of reports and paperwork. It will be my first act as king." Came the response.

Merlin laughed. They sat there in silence for a while as the prince ate and the manservant shuffled through the parchments. "Arthur," Merlin began. "It would be so much easier if they would write at the top what the parchment is about. That way you wouldn't have to read halfway through it to just find out….could you, you know, maybe suggest it at your next council meeting?"

Arthur chewed on his meat and thought about it. "That isn't a half bad idea, Merlin. I'll run it by them."

Merlin came over to refill Arthur's goblet. Arthur noticed him wince as he reached for the wine pitcher. "Ribs bothering you?" he asked.

"A bit. Gaius said he left out some pain medicine for me. I'll take it when I get back to my room." Merlin responded.

"Well, you could go take it now" The prince suggested.

"Nah, I'll wait. If I know Gaius, he probably left something that will knock me out. Besides, I really don't feel like walking all the way over there, then all the way back….tend to you, then have to walk all the way back over there again."

"Lazy" the prince laughed.

"Pain" the manservant corrected.

"Fair enough" the prince allowed.

"So, would you like me to have someone fetch water for your bath?" Merlin asked.

"No, I'll just sponge bathe tonight. I want to go spend some time with my father before he goes to sleep. I'll take my bath tomorrow after practice." The prince replied.

Merlin just nodded his head.

"Merlin?" Arthur said as he stood up and walked around to where he was facing Merlin.

"Yes Arthur?" the manservant asked.

Arthur crossed his arms and started rocking slightly on his heels. He stared at the floor. "These last couple of months have been hard, with my father's illness…and everything. I'm expected to do all these _things_ plus ensure the safety of Camelot….and…" he trailed off.

"Arthur, you are doing a wonderful job." Merlin tried to assure his prince.

"Only because someone has been helping me. Giving me pep talks. Going over reports, and writing notes for me. Writing speeches for me. Sorting my paperwork for me. Checking my agenda for me. Making sure I know who I am talking to when I have to meet with people. Making things a little bit _easier_ for me." The prince finally looked up and stared Merlin in the eye.

"It is all in a day's work, Sire." The manservant replied softly.

"No, Merlin. What you have done goes far beyond what your duties call for you to do." The prince responded.

"I don't do it for duty. I do it for a friend." Merlin paused, with a slight smirk "Well, am much of a 'friend' as a peasant can be with a royal prat."

Arthur's lips quirked for a moment then he gathered himself and said with all seriousness "And I thank you, as a friend." He paused and took a deep breath "Well, as much of a 'friend' as a crown prince can be with a complete idiot of a manservant."

Both men looked studiously at the floor with amused smiles playing on their lips. But each realized that their moment of bonding had ended.

Merlin cleared his throat, "Well, I had better get these dishes gathered up." He turned and walked to the table.

"Yes, I need to get looking at these papers" Arthur stated as he walked to his desk.

A few minutes later, Merlin had gathered all the dishes and placed them on the tray. He then placed Arthur's night clothes at the end of Arthur's bed and turned the sheets back.

Arthur looked up. "You can go on and leave. Go back, take your medicine and try to get some sleep."

"If you're sure." The manservant replied.

"Yes, I'm leaving anyway to go sit with my father this evening." The prince replied.

Merlin smiled and headed towards the door. He paused before he left. "Goodnight, Arthur."

Merlin walked out into the hall and towards his quarters. A smile slowly forming on his face.


	11. Chapter 11

**Authors Note:  
My apologies for being late. I have been sick as a dog over the the past week.  
I also apologize for the shortness of this chapter. It should have been twice as long.  
I plan to have the next chapter up by the weekend.  
** **As always, I welcome reviews, even the not so great ones.**

 **If I am running late on a chapter, or have story notes, you can check them on my _LiveJournal_ account.**

* * *

Merlin tried to hide his smile as he walked back to Gaius' chambers. He couldn't help himself though, he was embarrassingly pleased. Arthur had praised him. Well, not really, but he had verbally recognized what Merlin had been doing for him, and that was praise enough. Merlin would have done it anyway, as he always had in the past, but it did feel nice for Arthur to acknowledge it for once.

Merlin noted that he even had a warm feeling in his chest. He berated himself for being a "girl". Then he decided 'to heck with it'. Merlin couldn't remember Arthur _ever_ showing appreciation – at least not towards him. To others, yes, to him, never. He wondered for a second if perhaps there was something wrong with Arthur, then quickly shushed up any doubts and concerns. He could return to those later, right now he just wanted to bask in Arthur's approval before everything returned to normal and Arthur found something wrong to berate him for.

Merlin's smile had faded by the time he reached the top of the stairs that led to the physician's chambers. A grimace had replaced his smile, his long arms hugged his ribs. He stopped before reaching the door and leaned back on the wall to catch his breath. After a minute or two, he could breathe without his ribs shooting pains through his body. He waited a minute more until his breathing and heartbeat had leveled out. He started to push himself off the wall when a thought struck him. He rolled his eyes and let out a little groan. Gaius was off with Horatius. They would have dinner together, which means Gaius had probably not cooked. Merlin should have stopped by the servants' dining area and eaten. He looked back down the stairs and decided he was nowhere near _that_ hungry. Maybe after he took the pain draught and rested a bit he might attempt going back down.

He straightened up and walked the ten steps to the door to their chambers and entered. He stood there, his mouth agape, hand still on the open door. The aroma that greeted him was a mouthwatering combination of herbs, spices, and meat. Gaius' stew had never smelled like _that_. He looked around and found a young woman bending over the pot in the fireplace adding what looked to be mushrooms.

He cleared his throat, "Um, hello?"

The young woman turned to the sound with a questioning smile on her face. Upon seeing him her eyes flew open wide and she bowed and uttered out "My Lord". Merlin immediately turned and looked behind himself believing that Arthur must have somehow come up behind him. When he saw no one, he turned back around confused. Three things dawned on him at once. The first was that the girl was Sabine, the Druid woman they had saved. Secondly, she was bowing to him and addressed him as 'My Lord'. Lastly, the door was standing _wide open_.

He quickly closed the door and watched her as she straightened back up. He ran his hand through his hair nervously. "Um, please don't….don't bow to me, and definitely don't address me as 'My Lord'" he stuttered out.

"Yes Emrys" she replied and started to bow again before catching herself.

"And definitely don't call me Emrys. Please – call me Merlin." The manservant all but begged.

"All right….Merlin" Sabine said, a bashful smile on her lips.

Merlin slowly walked over to the table and sat down on the hard bench. He watched her for a few moments. "You're a Druid." It wasn't exactly a statement, nor was it really a question.

"Yes Em…Merlin" she bowed her head slightly.

Merlin let out a sigh. "Do you have magic?"

She looked at the floor and nodded her head in the affirmative.

Merlin sighed again and started drumming his fingers on the table lightly as he considered this information. He waited until she raised her head again and looked at him. Merlin stopped drumming his fingers and stared pointedly at her. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for you to be here?"

"I will be careful My…Merlin" She assured the warlock.

The corners of Merlin's mouth quirked upward. "You are really having a problem with the name aren't you?"

"You are Emrys. It seems wrong to address you so casually." She answered meekly.

Merlin motioned her to take a seat. After she sat he leaned forward and put his elbows on the table, forearms up, and clasping his hands together. He steepled his index fingers and bounced them slightly against his lips as he tried to think of what to say. He winced as the new position caused the pain in his ribs to worsen. After a few moments, he sighed and dropped his forearms to the table, leaving his hands clasped together and sat up straighter to relive the pressure on his ribs.

"I know that your people call me Emrys. Maybe one day I will be that Emrys that your people think is so wonderful. Right now, I am just Merlin. I'm a servant to a prince that can be an egotistical prat at times. I trip over things. I have doubts. I make mistakes. I go to the privy like everyone else. I'm just….me."

Sabine giggled and blushed slightly when he mentioned the privy. "I understand, I think." She paused for a moment. "But still, you are so powerful. I think maybe it is you who do not realize yet how important that you are, even now. I have heard of your kindness, your compassion…your goodness."

Now it was Merlin's turn to blush. He felt the heat flair in his cheeks and ducked his head.

Sabine giggled softly "And your humility."

Okay, that did it, Merlin felt the heat in his ears and knew that they must have turned Camelot red. He heard the other stool slide back against the floor. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sabine get up and go to stir the stew. It gave him a few moments to settle himself. She asked over her shoulder if he was ready to eat. Without waiting for an answer, she ladled up two bowls of stew. She grabbed the half loaf of stale bread and brought them to the table.

Merlin took a bite of the stew as she sat down across from him. He closed his eyes and hummed in appreciation. "Gaius certainly didn't cook this." He said with a smile.

"Yes he did," she said, grinning "I just…enhanced it a bit."

"It's really good!" Merlin said as he spooned up some more. After eating about half a bowl, he set down his spoon. "Like I said before, it is very dangerous for you to be here. Magic is outlawed on pain of death. The people here are scared of magic. One slip, and you could end up on the pyre."

"I will be careful. I really don't use much magic anyway." Sabine tried to assure him. "I usually just use it in healing anyway."

Merlin took another bite of stew and swallowed. "Why did you come to Camelot? Surely there are safer outlying villages. Or we could try to get you back to your camp."

"It was time for me to leave. I didn't really belong there anymore." She said quietly. "My family is dead. One of the elders took me in and cared for me, treated me as his own. No one could have treated me better. He and the other elders taught me a lot about healing. That is my talent. But the thing is, As much as I believe the teachings..." she trailed off and sat there quietly looking at her hands.

"What?" Merlin asked kindly.

"I just don't feel comfortable there. I don't like moving every six months. I don't like living in caves when it is cold. I don't like living in the forest. I want a _home_." She quietened and looked down at her hands again and spoke softly "You must think I am a terrible person after all they have done for me"

"No, not at all." He reassured her. "Not everyone is cut out for that type of life. I doubt _I_ would want to live like that."

She nodded her head slowly. "I talked to Abban – the elder who took me in. He did not get angry when I said I wanted to leave. But he asked me to stay for six more months, and I did. We continued with my training. We moved to the caves and met up with another group. Abban talked to their chieftain and to a seer. One day, they called me to them. They asked if I still desired to leave. I felt very guilty, but I told them that I did.

"They smiled at me and said that my destiny would bring me to Camelot. That this is where I was to be."

"Did they tell you why? I mean, what in Camelot you were to do?" Merlin asked worriedly.

She looked at him. "They just told me that this is where I would find my life. I doubt I could have much of a destiny, but whatever that destiny is, I will meet it head on."

"Where did you get the horse and the cart…and your clothes? Those" he indicated her clothing with a wave of his hand "are not druid."

"They traded for them. I didn't want them to, but they insisted. They said it would help me fit in better."

"I see, that makes sense" he started to dip his spoon into the bowl, then noticed he had already finished it.

"I'll get you some more" she stated as she started to get up.

"No, that's okay." Merlin bent forward and started to reach across the table to take her hand when he gasped harshly and grabbed his side.

"Oh! Your ribs!" She cried as she got up quickly and moved around the table to him.

"No, no, I'm fine. I just forgot." He said between gasps.

"I should have rewrapped them as soon as you got here. I'm so sorry. Gaius told me to wrap them." Sabine stammered.

Merlin looked at her a bit mortified. " _You_ are going to wrap them?"

Sabine looked confused "Yes, I am a healer, after all"

Merlin blushed slightly. "What I mean is, well, you're a girl…and I'm a guy…"

Merlin noticed her giving him a look that reminded him very much of Arthur's 'You're being an idiot' look. He looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm being an idiot aren't I?"

"Just slightly" she said with a grin.

"I think I had better take Gaius foul concoction before we wrap it. I went without medicine earlier, and I'm really starting to feel it".

Sabine walked over to the cupboard and picked up the draught. She walked back over and sat it down on the table. She hesitated for a moment, then said nervously. "You know, I can heal it for you…your ribs I mean"

"No you can't" Merlin said firmly. When Sabine looked insulted and ready to argue he held up his hand to forestall her comment. "What I mean is, I am sure that you can…but you can't. This is what I meant earlier about being careful. Arthur knows my ribs are cracked and I'm not that good of an actor. I'll forget and move normally, and Arthur will get suspicious if I am suddenly healed."

"Oh, I hadn't really thought of that! I mean, I knew that I couldn't do anything obvious with Sir Leon, but I hadn't thought I would need to be so cautious with you." She sighed.

Merlin looked thoughtful. "Can you dull the pain? I mean, without the draught?"

She nodded vigorously. "It will last about four hours. You will still need to move carefully. Pain is meant to let your body know that there is an injury. However, I think you are well aware of that."

Merlin gave her one of his most dazzling smiles. "Well, what are we waiting for?!"

Sabine helped the manservant to stand. She moved his arms away from his body and told him to relax. She reached up and placed her hands softly on his temple and whispered " _bánwærc álynian."_ She then moved one hand down to his left side and whispered again " _bánwærc álynian."_ She moved her other hand to his right side and again said " _bánwærc álynian."_

She stepped back. "Twist your body slowly and see how it feels"

Merlin tentatively twisted ever so slightly, first to the left, then to the right. He then straightened his back. A bright smile grew on his face. He bent over and touched the bench, stood back up, then took a few steps. "That is amazing!"

Sabine laughed. "Don't overdo it, or you won't think it is so amazing later." She walked over to the cupboard and retrieved the bandages and salve. "Take off your tunic" she called over her shoulder.

Merlin took off his neckerchief then pulled his tunic over his head. Still no pain. He dropped the tunic on the bench, then crossed his arms.

Sabine watched him with a smirk and shook her head. "Uncross your arms"

It didn't take her long to get the wraps off. She forced herself not to stare at the large burn scar on his chest or the black veiny scar on his lower back. There were other scars as well that were hidden under the bruising on his ribs, stomach, and back. She could feel them as she gently rubbed the salve over his bruises. After the salve she started binding his ribs again. Merlin grunted a few times when he thought the binding was too tight. "Wait until I am finished, then we can loosen it if we need to" she said after the fourth grunt. When she finished she loosened them ever so slightly so that he could breathe a bit easier.

Merlin felt the bindings loosen when she pulled on them. He was grateful, he had felt like he couldn't breathe. He also had a dull throb around his ribs. She placed her hand on his head and whispered the spell one last time and all the pain left again.

Sabine took a step back and admired her handiwork. "How does that feel?"

Merlin twisted again but noticed that he had less range of movement after being wrapped again. He knew that was the way it was supposed to be to keep his ribs in place. However, he was out of pain and could move easily enough. "Great! You are going to have to teach me that one"

She smiled at him. "That one is a bit harder to learn. You have to know the intent of the spell to make it work, not just the words. It took me forever to learn it correctly."  
Merlin was interested "How so?"

She smiled again "Abban says that pain does not originate at the point of the injury, but rather in your head. That the caster has to concentrate on the the portion of the brain that causes you to feel pain. For that reason, it is easier to cast on someone else, but not on yourself."

Merlin was confused. "How can the pain come from somewhere other than where you are hurt?"

She giggled. "I used to wonder the same thing. It didn't make sense. But when I stopped questioning it, and did as he said, the spell started to work. When we both have some time to spend on it, I will teach you. But right now I have to get going. I want to stop in on Sir Leon before it gets too late." She walked over and picked up a bag and placed some wraps, ointments, and several vials of some sort of medicine in it.

"Thank you for the dinner, and the…you know…to help with the pain." Merlin said as he pulled his tunic over his head.

She walked to the door but paused before leaving "I'm glad we had a chance to talk…Merlin" She smiled somewhat proudly at having called him by his name without stumbling. She then turned and left.

Merlin went back to the table and let the smile slowly fall from his face. She seemed like a nice girl. But these days, one couldn't be too careful. For all he knew, she could be a spy for Morgause and Morgana. If she was, they would be in big trouble because she knew who he was. Or maybe she was here to seek out vengeance for some other reason. He sat there for a while and pondered and worried. He finally sighed and stood up, grateful that the spell seemed to still be keeping the pain at bay. He grabbed his jacket and headed out the door.

The manservant walked slowly through the town and hid in the shadows as people passed. He saw Gwaine and Percival going into the tavern and shook his head in amusement. He would let the big knight take care of his friend tonight.

He really needed to talk to Arthur about the guards. It was ridiculous how easily someone can sneak in and out of the city. Not only were they too easily fooled into leaving their post, they were too predictable on their rounds. Merlin had no problem getting out, and even moving as slowly as he was, he was able to make it to the tree line with no problem.

Merlin was moving slower than usual to keep from injuring himself, but he finally came to the familiar clearing. He had questions. He wanted answers, and he hoped his kin would know them. Merlin tilted his head to the sky and roared _" **O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd'hup'anankes!** "_


	12. Chapter 12

**Please see A/N at the end of the chapter, some of it is important**

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Merlin stood at the edge of the clearing. He knew it might be a while before the dragon appeared. He didn't mind, it gave him a chance to get his thoughts in order. There was a bolder right next to the tree line. It wasn't large, about hip high, the perfect height to sit or lean upon. It gave him a good view of the clearing while keeping him hidden at the edge…not that he expected anyone. Kilgharrah and cast a charm around the immediate area to make people feel wary - a sense of foreboding -when coming in or around the clearing. It made things much easier for their clandestine meetings.

Merlin looked around the clearing. A full moon was hanging in the sky, so bright that the trees cast shadows in the middle of the night. Nothing stirred in the clearing. It was peaceful.

He worried about the girl, Sabine. His instincts told him that she was of no danger. However, he could not ignore the fact that she had shown up so soon after Morgana and Morgause had been defeated.

He also wondered about the story that Horatius was telling them. Not really the story per se, but why neither Gaius nor Kilgharrah spoke of Balinor often. Even on those rare occasions, it was never to tell him stories. Gaius always seemed uncomfortable discussing it. He didn't think Gaius was hiding anything, he thought it was more likely that it made him morose to think about that period of time during The Purge.

Kilgharrah, on the other hand, was a dragon. Merlin had already figured out that dragons didn't think like humans. He knew the dragon _did_ have emotions – the attack after his escape was proof of that. But he also had figured out that they didn't get too emotionally invested in humans. Dragons had keen analytical minds. For them the focus was to ensure destiny was achieved. Or, at least, that was how Kilgharrah was…he really didn't have other dragons to compare him by.

Merlin had only been there for five or ten minutes when he saw a shadow cross the moon, and heard the _thwump, thwump, thwump_ of beating wings. He watched as the dragon came in for a landing. It was a light landing, but the ground still shook.

Merlin walked out to greet his kin. Kilgharrah lowered his head in a slight bow. "You called, young warlock?"

"I did" Merlin replied.

"Am I to assume Camelot is in great danger?" The dragon asked with a bit of humor coloring his voice.

Merlin answered in kind "What? I can't summon my Kin for a friendly chat? Perhaps I have missed you."

"Hardly, Merlin." The dragon deadpanned. "What is on your mind?"

"A druid woman named Sabine has come to Camelot. She intends to stay." Merlin paused a moment feeling a bit guilty for being so suspicious "I need to know if she is a danger to Arthur or Camelot."

"She is not" the dragon assured him, but said no more.

"But how can you be certain? You have to admit that it is suspicious that she shows up so soon after what happened with Morgana and Morgause." The warlock asked.

"She has her own destiny. It is a simple destiny, but her destiny all the same. You need not concern yourself with it." The dragon said with an air of finality. Before Merlin could ask any more questions, the dragon continued. "In truth, I thought you had called to ask me about the old man".

Merlin's follow up question stopped before it could pass his lips. His eyes widened as he took in what Kilgharrah had said. "Horatius? You knew him? I mean, other than him being a friend of my father?"

The dragon tilted his head and nodded once in confirmation. "As humans go, he is a good person. It shall be a sad day when he crosses the veil. He took care of your father after…"

"After Lucan was killed" Merlin finished for him after the dragon stalled mid-sentence.

Kilgharrah's eyes widened slightly. "He spoke of Lucan?"

At that moment, Merlin knew that he had been wrong about dragons not being close to humans emotionally. Although the only visible sign he saw was the widened eyes, he could _feel_ a moment of grief rolling off the dragon and then through himself. It felt like a battering ram had hit his chest. It quickly subsided as the dragon apparently pulled his emotions back.

"He did. He spoke quite highly of him." Merlin answered as he sat down on the ground. The Dragon had also lowered himself to the ground, wrapping his tale around himself.

The dragon spoke again. "They were, what you humans call, 'close friends.' Horatius had met them when they first arrived. He befriended them immediately. His heart is a beacon of honor and compassion. His brain, however, is as shrewd as any dragon." Kilgharrah then smiled. "Lucan often said that Horatius was the only person he knew who could have a discussion with a dragon and not walk away with a headache."

Merlin snorted, but the dragon continued somewhat bemused. "I never really understood what he meant by that."

Merlin laughed, then covered his mouth when the dragon glared at him. "I am sure he must have meant it as a compliment." the warlock said in his most mollifying voice.

"No doubt." The dragon responded. "The man is quite intelligent. He sees things most others do not. Never underestimate him."

Merlin was quiet for a moment contemplating what the dragon said. Then his eyes widened as he gave a small gasp "You don't think he knows who I am, do you? I mean, that Balinor is my father?"

Kilgharrah was quiet for a moment as he mulled over what his dragonlord asked. "I do not know. Why is he in Camelot?"

"I thought you knew. You obviously know that he is there. I figured you would know why." The warlock answered back, almost in a teasing manner.

"That he is there, I know. Why he is there, I do not" The dragon answered back indignantly.

Merlin sighed. "Arthur commissioned him to make campaign rings for the new knights. Horatius came to deliver them. At some point, they began talking about Balinor. I don't know how they got on the subject though."

Kilgharrah thought for a few moments before responding. "It is possible that he might suspect. However, seeing as your own father knew not of your existence, I don't see how he could have gained such knowledge."

Merlin calmed at that, letting out a sigh of relief. Then the dragon continued.

"Still, be on your guard. Horatius is known to spin yarns for the love of telling a story. Other times, he does so to share information or to teach. However, he also is known to watch his audience and gain information from them by how they respond." The dragon paused for a moment, then continued. "Be that as it may, even if he were to know who and what you are, I do not believe he would betray your secret without good cause."

Merlin jumped to his feet and started pacing. "How can you be sure? He is good friends with Uther. He is one of the few who Arthur and Gaius have allowed to visit him."

"Calm yourself young warlock. Horatius' wife was a Druid. He would not place you in undue danger. He was even responsible for talking Uther into keeping your _mentor_ in Camelot under the guise of needing someone who knew about magic. Of course the Physician had to swear he would never perform magic again and swear fealty." The dragon growled out the last sentence.

Merlin looked at the dragon warily. He knew that Kilgharrah had little love for Gaius and considered him all but a traitor, but it aggravated the young man. "By Gaius staying there, he was able to help others escape. My father being one of them! It is not your place to judge him."

"He did not save enough!" The dragon retorted angrily as tendrils of smoke escaped his nostrils.

Merlin put his hands on his hips and huffed out angrily. "This is not why we are here! But I will say this; he is the one that has taught me. He is the one that has taken care of me and my injuries. He is the one who has accepted me. So I will thank you not to speak of him with ill regard!"

The dragon and his dragonlord looked away from each other and were quiet for some minutes until both had reigned in their anger.

Finally, Merlin sighed and ran his hands over his face. "Look, I know you and Gaius have your differences, but he is a good man. He is like a father to me."

Kilgharrah gave a little smile. "I know this. And I must admit that if were not for the Physician, your father would have never escaped. Had he not escaped, you, yourself, would never have been born."

The two finally looked at each other and their short argument was all but forgotten. "So…" the warlock began. "I believe we were speaking of Horatius…."

"As I said before, I believe you have nothing to fear of him." The dragon repeated. "However, again repeating myself, stay on your guard. But listen to what he has to say."

Merlin nodded his head. He knew that the discussion about Horatius was at an end. He still had questions about the girl. "Well, since we have Horatius covered, I wanted to ask you some more about the Druid girl…"

"What about her?" The dragon asked.

"You said she has a destiny? The warlock responded.

Kilgharrah sighed. "Yes, it is a simple destiny, yet an important one. She is to marry into the house of Leodegrance. She will then produce offspring that will….."

Merlin interrupted "But Leodegrance's kingdom is Cameliard! She is in Camelot."

"And do you know of no one in Camelot who has ties to Cameliard?" The dragon asked amused.

Merlin stood there confused for a moment until understanding struck him. His eyes widened while his mouth dropped open. Then after a moment he burst into laughter. "Leon?" he asked through fits of laughter. "Leon the loyal? Leon the First Knight of a kingdom that persecutes those with magic? Leon who has probably never broken a rule in his life? _That_ Leon is going to marry a Druid girl who has magic?...Oh, _this_ I have _got_ to see!"

"Merlin!" The Great Dragon admonished.

"Sorry, but it's funny" The young warlock answered back after controlling his laughter.

The dragon sighed, not understanding the human sense of humor. "Their pairing is important, Merlin. She will soften the knight's heart towards magic, but even more importantly, in the future, a descendant of theirs will help you restore a destiny that has gone wrong."

Merlin was no longer laughing. "What destiny that has gone wrong?"

"I do not know" The Dragon answered. "I am not privy to that prophecy. The events shall occur long after I am no longer part of this world. All that I know is what I learned from Horatius wife before she died. You shall befriend this decedent and help his group defeat a great evil. In turn, they will help you defeat your greatest enemy."

"Morgana?" Merlin all but whispered, his mouth having gone dry.

"I do not know. I was not given this knowledge." The great dragon said sadly.

"But it is my destiny to protect Arthur. It must have something to do with her." The warlock responded back with certainty.

Kilgharrah sighed. "Merlin, yes, it is your destiny to protect Arthur. But you are also Emrys. You have more than just one destiny. You are destined to do many things in your life. Some include the Once and Future King. Others do not."

Merlin stared at the dragon horrified. "What do you mean other destinies? Isn't the one enough? No. Just NO!" He turned his back to the dragon and stomped away several yards and sat on the hard ground.

"Merlin" Kilgharrah called softly. When the young man did not move, he called again. "Merlin, turn around"

"No!" came the reply.

"You are acting like a petulant child" the dragon retorted.

Merlin slowly turned around, tear tracks staining his face. "It's not fair. Why don't I have a right to live my life free of destinies?"

Kilgharrah laughed. "All of us have a destiny, young warlock. It is just some are less burdensome than others."

The young man wiped his eyes with the arm of his jacket. "So what is this other destiny?"

"That, I do not know. I have told you all I know on the subject. The Ancient ones knew, but they did not find it necessary to share their knowledge with me. Now, they are lost to the Long Sleep." The dragon responded. It was evident in his voice that he had been unhappy to be refused the knowledge that he sought, and saddened at the loss of those who held it.

"Maybe it is for the better. If I don't know what it is, then I won't worry about it until after it is done." The warlock smiled. "Sometimes ignorance is bliss, especially when there is nothing you can do about it."

"You are growing wise, young warlock" The dragon said with an air of pride.

"Kilgharrah, you mentioned Horatius' wife. How did she know?" the young man inquired.

"In the last few years of her life, she was gifted with the Sight. As she grew ill, her visions became stronger because she was too weak to hold them back. Towards the end, Horatius brought her to me. He was desperate, he wanted me to heal her. I told him that I could not. Her time was soon to be upon her. But I did agree to try to ease her pain. She allowed me into her visions." The dragon then sighed. "The visions she shared with me, I did not understand. I can see why they were driving her insane.

"I was able to, temporarily, remove her physical pain caused by her disease and calm her mind of the visions. She would still have the visions, but would be able to separate them from reality and attempt to decipher them. Her pain would return eventually, so I imparted the knowledge of a spell to help her control it."

Merlin smiled up at the dragon. "So you do have a heart."

The dragon grumbled. "Even I am not immune to compassion when faced with such pain as she had."

The warlock scrunched up his brow in question for a moment. "When did he bring her to you? I thought she died not long after Nimueh…but you were still under the Castle then."

The dragon nodded. "That is true."

Merlin's eyes got wide. "He snuck her into Camelot?!"

"People do things when they are desperate. You, of all people should know that." The dragon eyed Merlin knowingly.

"Yeah, well…" Merlin blushed. "Sometime you have to do what you have to do. I am glad they got in and out without being caught."

Both dragonlord and dragon looked around as they heard a dog baying in the distance. Merlin stood up and winced as his sore ribs were making themselves known again. "I guess that's our signal to get going. Thank you for talking to me."

"I always talk to you, young warlock" the dragon huffed.

"I know, but usually it is a few sentences of riddles or of warning, then you fly off. Thank you for sticking around and answering my questions…even though I now have more questions than answers. But at least I know that Arthur is safe….And that Leon…." Merlin quickly covered his mouth before a giggle could escape. "Well, that Leon will find happiness."

"Until we meet again, Merlin" And with that the Great Dragon unfurled his wings and rose in the air.

Merlin walked back to the tree line. He looked up in the sky but no longer saw the great beast. He winced again as the pain in his ribs started to get worse. Had it been four hours since she did the spell? Merlin looked up at the moon and figured that it probably had been, especially since he had walked much more slowly to the glade. He patted his pockets and found the draught that Gaius had made earlier. Merlin really didn't want to take the foul concoction. He sighed, he knew it was better to take it now than to wait until the pain was unbearable, so he unstopped the vial and downed it with one go. He quickly grabbed his waterskin and washed the nasty taste down.

Merlin made his way slowly through the forest, sending tendrils of his magic out to make sure he was alone before whispering " _ **Leoht**_ " to call a light. He made better time now that he could better see where he was walking. He doused his light when he realized he was coming up on the main path back to the castle. He once again sent out tendrils of his magic to assure that no one was near. He pulled himself behind a tree when he sensed a group nearing. He glanced out and saw the glow of torchlight and heard hoofbeats of horses trotting at a leisurely gait. He leaned back into the trees and stood still when he saw the horses rounding the bend coming towards him. As they came even, Merlin saw that it was the extra patrol that Arthur had ordered after the attack on Sabine. The patrol moved on with no one noticing the manservant standing like a shadow in the trees.

After the patrol was sufficiently far away, Merlin stepped out on the path and headed towards the castle.

After sneaking back into the lower town, he stayed in the shadows as usual. He passed by the tavern and looked in through one of the windows. Gwaine and Percival were still there, but it looked as they were preparing to leave. Merlin shook his head in amusement. They would not be enjoying training tomorrow. He headed on towards his quarters, breathing a sigh of relief that none of the guards were patrolling in that area. He turned the corner to climb up the stairs to his room when a hand shot out and grabbed his arm. Merlin turned indignantly to demand what the person was doing. The retort died on his lips.

"Arthur! Um, what are you doing out at this time of night?" Merlin asked the very aggravated looking Prince.

* * *

 **AUTHORS NOTES: Please read. especially #2, it is important.**

 **1\. As some of you know, I injured my hand not long after I completed chapter 11. I've been in some sort of brace thingy since then. The doc changed out the brace a couple of weeks back and said I could type (albeit for only 10 or 15 minutes at a time). Well, that didn't work out because it hurt like a SOB. But finally, I am back to typing. So I hope you enjoy this chapter**

 **2\. This is important: Chapter 12 (this chapter) is filled with a considerable amount of foreshadowing that will NOT be resolved in this story. LET ME SAY THIS AGAIN! This chapter has a lot of foreshadowing that WILL NOT be resolved in this story. It is there to give some hints to the Merlin/HP crossover that will be written at a later date.**

 **3\. The next update will probably be in two weeks. Right now, everything is dependent on how my hand is doing. If it is feeling better, maybe the update will be sooner...but right now I am typing rather slowly.**


	13. Chapter 13

Arthur sat in a chair across from his father studying the older man. His hair was unkempt and in a disarray, even though the prince knew that both the king's manservant and Gwen would comb it throughout the day. Unfortunately, the King had taken to running his hands through his hair when agitated, pulling at it.

The king sat there in his chair, his once proud shoulders hunched over under the weight of a light quilt. The whiskers on his face indicated he had not been shaved that day. In the beginning Arthur had yelled at the king's manservant for that, but was told that the king would sometimes become agitated and the servant feared that he would accidently cut the monarch. Last week, when the king had neither shaved nor properly bathed for several days, they had Gaius give him a potion that would calm the king. Gaius had warned them to use it sparingly that it would lose its potency if taken too often. There was no need to fear of that! The concoction had made Uther as submissive as a simpleton. It had hurt the prince to see his father in such a state.

Uther shifted and brought Arthur out of his musings. He looked up to see his father staring at him with a slight smile on his lips.

"What bothers you Arthur?" The king asked, his voice gravelly from disuse.

Arthur startled "Nothing Father, I was just lost in thought for a moment."

"It is not good for the people to see their king daydreaming." The king retorted, but kindly.

"Then it is good that I am not the king yet. You will still have many years with that title, Sire" the young prince deferred back to his father.

Uther's smile had fallen as he appeared to slowly look around the room, the lost look starting to take over again. Lost in memories, lost in sadness, lost to the ghosts that haunted Uther's mind.

Arthur hated this. Gaius had explained the king's mental state to him on numerous occasions over the past weeks, but he still hated it. He just wanted his father back, not just snatches here and there when the king would become cognizant of his surroundings. Arthur was determined to keep his father's attention a little longer.

"Horatius visited with you the other day, did you enjoy it?" The prince asked trying to prod his father to stay in the 'now'.

The king looked back at his son, confused for a moment, then broke out into a wide smile.

"Yes, Horatius, It was good to see him. Is he still in Camelot?" The king inquired.

"Yes, but only for another day or two." Came the prince's reply.

"You should try to entice him to stay. He would be a great asset to the council. He has many contacts across the Five Kingdoms" The king said.

"Perhaps you should ask him" the prince responded.

"No, he will not return while I am king. We are good friends, but we have our differences in opinion. He strongly opposed The Purge. I know he knows the dangers of magic, but his wife, he loved her. He chose to leave….Yet, he is still faithful to me and Camelot. He would be a good advisor to you when you take the throne…" The king trailed off.

"Still, it will be a long time before that happens. You will get better Father." The prince assured his father.

"But what of now? Who will advise you so that the council will not try to take advantage of you? You are still barely more than a boy, they will use that against you." The king asked grimly.

"Oh! That reminds me, I have received a response from Uncle Agravaine. He should arrive within a month. He has promised to stay as long as we need him to." The prince told his father, hoping to assure the older man.

"Good. Agravaine is knowledgeable of the court and how to rule. He will advise you well. Learn from him. He is also a strong ally against magic since it took your mother from us." The king stated.

Arthur cringed. Any time his mother or Morgana were mentioned, his father would start to get lost within himself again. "I will Father" he said as he watched his father's eyes become distant once more.

Arthur sat next to his quiet father for ten minutes when he heard the door quietly open. The prince looked up to see the king's manservant enter.

The manservant, Philip, bowed and walked in the room. "May I get you any refreshment, Sire?"

"No, I am fine." The prince responded.

Philip looked over at the king and noticed he was in a unresponsive state "Shall I put His Highness to bed, Sire?"

Arthur looked at his father. He knew his father would not come out of his silence for the rest of the night. "Yes, I think so".

The manservant placed one hand, ever so gently, on the king's shoulder and bent down so that the king could see his face. "Sire, it is time for bed". He stood and grabbed Uther's upper arm to help him rise, but the king just sat there.

Arthur watched as the man gently tried to get the king to rise. He rose himself and went to his father's other side and mimicked what Philip had done and bent down to where his father could see him. "Let's get you to bed, Father. It is getting late."

He then rose and took his father by the other arm and prince and manservant helped the king to stand, then maneuvered him over to his bed.

Arthur stood back and watched as Philip readied Uther for bed. The manservant spoke to king in hushed comforting tones as he removed Uther's tunic then put on the night shirt, then got him to lay down. He then situated the pillows for the king and covered him with the blanket.

Arthur came up to the side of the bed and grabbed his father's hand. "Goodnight Father, I will see you tomorrow."

The prince and manservant walked to the door. "Who will be staying with him tonight?" The prince asked quietly.

"I will sire" Philip answered back just as quietly.

"Haven't you stayed the last three nights?" The prince asked.

"Yes sire, but it is an honor to do so. Besides….I hope it does not sound presumptuous on my part….but he seems to rest easier when I am here. I have been his manservant for years, and I believe that he is comfortable with someone familiar around."

"I think you may be right" the prince responded. "Thank you for being so loyal to him."

Philip reddened slightly and gave a small smile. "Is not Merlin as loyal to you, Sire?"

Arthur, taken slightly aback, only nodded in agreement then left. The door clicking closed quietly behind him. He headed towards his rooms then noticed that it was still early. He couldn't have been with his father more than thirty minutes at most. He sighed and decided to take a walk. He needed some fresh air.

Arthur wanted to be alone with his thoughts. So instead of heading out to the wall, he went up the tower. He could see everything from there. He always referred to this tower as Merlin's "brooding tower". He was well aware that this was one of the places the young man went when he was upset.

He stepped out into the night air. It was rather windy, but not enough to make him seek the comfort of the stairwell. He walked out and watched the town far below.

He stood at the wall and let the thoughts and emotions wash over him.

He was afraid. Afraid that his father wouldn't get better.

He was angry. Angry at Morgana for betraying them like that. Angry that his father had sired her through a highly inappropriate affair with the wife of one of Uther's closest friends.

He was unsure. Unsure that he was ready to rule.

He felt betrayed. Betrayed by what Morgana did just recently. Betrayed by what Uther had done years ago.

He felt…..

Confused? He looked down at the courtyard and town below. He saw a shadow move. He looked again, all was still. Then…there it was…something out of the corner of his eye. Yes. There was definitely someone down there sneaking around. It wouldn't have even caught his attention had the person just been walking around, but his slow movements in and out of the shadows, spoke of stealth, of not wanting to be seen.

The moon was full and bright, Arthur squinted harder trying to make out the person moving in the shadows through the town. He saw other people walking around. He saw Percival and Gwaine heading for the tavern and the person hide himself to keep the two knights from seeing him. Arthur wanted to scream out and get the knights attention, but knew they would not hear him from this distance. After the two knights had passed, the figure came to the edge of the shadows again. Arthur noticed he was moving slowly, awkwardly…injured perhaps?

The prince noticed the figure was getting closer to the gates. The gates were open as per protocol, but Arthur knew that the guards would stop anyone coming in or out. The figure stopped at the last building and waited. Arthur would be able to see him better when he left the protection of the building as there were no more shadows to hide in. So he waited…and waited. He watched the guards on the gate and the guards doing rounds on the wall. The guards on the wall passed each other going in opposite directions. If it were Arthur, he would make his move now. But still there was the guards on the gate to contend with.

Arthur heard a soft sound down below, perhaps the sound of something falling. He watched as one of the guards on the gate ran off, then the other….to what apparently was some stacked barrels had been knocked over.

Arthur wanted to slap his forehead. He couldn't believe the guards were that dense! Sure enough, as soon as the guards left the gate unattended, the figure left the shadows and made his way past the gate to the field beyond. The prince lost sight of his quarry as the wall hid him from view. But it didn't matter. Arthur knew that gait, he recognized the way he moved, the way he swung his arms. He'd know that walk anywhere.

What the hell was Merlin doing?

A moment later, he saw the man walking across the field. He disappeared into the woods just as the two guards on their rounds came back into view and the guards on the gate return to their station.

To say that Arthur was flabbergasted would have been a gross understatement. First, what the hell was Merlin doing? The woods were dangerous right now. And what would he be doing in the woods anyway?

Secondly, how bad was their security that a clumsy _and injured_ idiot can waltz right out the front gate of the city and no one be the wiser?

Arthur made his way down the stairs of the tower, by the time he made it to the courtyard, he was fairly certain that steam was coming out of his ears. Stupid manservants who didn't have the common sense to stay out of dangerous conditions. Stupid, _stupid_ guards that leave their post allowing anyone to leave or enter undetected – _not a month_ after Morgause and Morgana's attempted coup!

Heads. Would. Roll.  
Well, Arthur conceded, not really. But there was no reason for the guards to know that.

Arthur came to a stop in front of the two guards at the gate. The stood at attention. Both could see how angry the prince was and were nervous at what could have caused him to be in such a state.

Then Arthur smiled… and the guards were terrified.

"I was wondering" mused the prince in a friendly manner, "why either of you…. No….why _both_ of you would leave your post?"

"Sire?" One of the guards asked nervously.

"I asked" drawled out the prince, "why you would leave your post while on duty."

"Sire, Who sai…." One of the guards started

The prince jerked up his hand with his index finger in a 'wait' signal, then slowly lowered the finger to point at the guard who was speaking.

"Before you let that lie out of your mouth, I'll just let you know that I was standing on the tower. That one right there" he spoke softly and indicated the tower behind his back with his other hand. "I saw the gate. I saw one of you leave. Then I saw the other of you leave. And THEN there was the gate. Standing there completely unguarded.

"Now then, I'll ask again. Why did you leave the gate unguarded?"

"Sire, the barrels became dislodged and began rolling around. Someone could have been hurt!" One of the guards exclaimed.

"I see" the prince responded calmly. "And how many people were around that could have been injured?"

"Well, there was no one there when we got there, but we did check to see that no one had been rolled over by the barrels." The other guard responded.

"I see" the prince responded calmly again "And you didn't find this suspicious?"

"No sire" the guard said nervously. "But Sire, no one came or went through the gates. We kept an eye on it."

The prince's countenance went from placid to furious instantaneously. "That is where you would wrong. Someone did go through the gate." The prince roared.

The two guards paled.

"Consider yourselves both on report. Report to your commander tomorrow morning." The prince glared at them. He started to turn to walk away then turned back. "Be glad I know who went through the gate, or you two would be facing the gallows"

The prince turned and walked away but not before hearing an audible gulp from the guards behind him.

Now all he had to do was wait for Merlin.

Arthur was getting worried. Merlin hadn't returned yet. It has been over three hours. He had even gone to Gaius' chambers to see if Merlin had already sneaked back in without Arthur noticing.

Arthur paced back and forth over curtain wall staying behind the battlements so that he wouldn't be seen. He alternated between wanting to wring his servant's neck and being worried out of his mind. He paused and leaned against the wall and looked through the crenel. There! He saw movement. He stepped back into the shadows and watched. About fifteen minutes later he saw a figure come out of the woods and walk towards the castle gates. Then he lost sight of him again. There was no question though as to who it was. Arthur quickly left the walls and made his way towards the physician's chambers. He waited. He heard Merlin's footsteps and heavy breathing and braced himself. The second the man turned the corner his hand snaked out and grabbed Merlin's arm.

Merlin looked up first angrily then shocked. "Arthur! Um, what are you doing out this time of night?"

"Where the hell have you been?" Came the prince's angry reply.


End file.
